August 8, 2003
Uganda Peoples Congress Washington DC Bureau Office
(Office of the Chairman)
Fellow Citizens and members of the International Community:
Greetings:
NRM National Political Commissar DR Crispus Kiyonga has made some threats against members of Uganda Peoples Congress specifically and the other opposition political parties in general.
We, Members of Uganda Peoples Congress Washington, DC Bureau, wish to note that we take Commissar Kiyongo's threats against our fellow citizens very seriously.
It is our hope that members of the International Community have also noted Dr. Crispus Kiyonda comments as noted below.
As Peter Walubiri, has noted quiet so eloquently, there is no law , repeat there is NO LAW ...Under which Kiyonda (and his NRM) can threaten to arrest the PPC Chairman simply for reactivating UPC party branches in Uganda.
Therefore Kiyonga's threat is both illegal and a deliberate calculated act of provocation against the UPC and opposition parties in Uganda. This fact, we hope, peace loving members of the International Community and Ugandans must note and disapprove.
Thank you .
Matek
Chairman UPC Washington Bureau.
Government Declares War On Parties
The Monitor (Kampala)August 9, 2003
Posted to the web August 8, 2003 Richard M. Kavuma
Kampala Government will arrest opposition politicians who continue politicking without registering their parties, National Political Commissar Dr Crispus Kiyonga vowed yesterday.Declaring what he called a war on political indiscipline, Kiyonga accused partyists of trying to blackmail government and causing unnecessary alarm among the public."People have been telling you that they will not register, but they are busy opening branches in the country," Kiyonga told a press conference at Nile Hotel gardens in Kampala."They think they will provoke government into making mistakes so that they go around shouting about human rights."Kiyonga added: "We will not be blackmailed.
Anyone who breaks the law will be arrested and taken to the courts."It was in apparent reference to the Uganda People's Congress (UPC), which recently opened four branches around Kampala. UPC's lawyer Peter Mukidi Walubiri however laughed off Kiyonga's ultimatum, saying there is no law under which he can be arrested for "reactivating his party's branches".Opposition lawyers have recently accused Movement directors of being in office illegally.
At Kiyonga's press conference were Movement director for Legal Affairs Margaret Okumu and the deputy directors for Information, Alice Muwanguzi and for External Relations Latigo olal.The five-year term of office of the Movement Secretariat directors expired on July 11. MPs have refused to pass the secretariat's budget because of a March 31 court ruling declaring the Movement a political organisation, and its organs unconstitutional.
But Kiyonga said politicians have been deliberately telling lies to the population that "the Movement political system was an organisation and not a system""There is a lot of concern in the countryside," Kiyonga said. "People call you at midnight saying 'we hear the Movement is no longer there, what do we do?"Some of the people, calling for President Museveni third term, do so because they are worried about the country's future stability, said Kiyonga.
