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Uganda police fire tear gas at protesters
28 Jun 2005 10:49:55 GMT
Source: Reuters
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By Daniel Wallis
KAMPALA, June 28 (Reuters) - Ugandan police fired tear gas on Tuesday to disperse scores of demonstrators protesting a parliamentary move critics say is designed to install Yoweri Museveni as president for life.
Opposition parties vowed to protest in the capital Kampala against the vote by MPs on scrapping presidential term limits, which most Ugandans expect to clear the way for Museveni to stand for re-election in March 2006.
A group of about 60 demonstrators chanting and waving placards fled as heavily armed riot police arrived in front of parliament in pickup trucks and an armoured anti-riot vehicle which fired clouds of tear gas out of jets on its sides.
A few protesters threw rocks at police, and some reappeared at the scene before being chased away again by blasts of tear gas. The demonstration had not been approved by police, one of whom ordered a Reuters journalist not to take photographs.
"We are protesting against manipulation and corruption," said Francis Mwijinge, a youth organiser for the opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), before police arrived.
"African countries have been dragged behind because of dictatorship and greed for power. Why should we abrogate all our gains for one person?"
Economic growth, market reforms and the continent's most successful campaign against HIV/AIDS have led Museveni to be held up as a new generation of African leader, and his country as an example of development south of the Sahara.
But Uganda's star is slowly waning amid reports of political repression, human rights abuses and high-level corruption.
Britain cut $9.5 million in aid in March over delays in the return to multiparty politics after two decades of Museveni's one-party Movement system. Donors privately oppose lifting term limits, saying Museveni has a golden chance to become Uganda's first leader to hand over power peacefully.
STRIFE FORESEEN
The Forum for Democratic Change believed regular presidential elections and term limits are necessary for stability in Uganda, spokesman Wafula Oguttu said.
"This (vote) may cause serious strife and political turmoil, both through the transition period and thereafter," he told Reuters.
Meanwhile, they are pushing for a "yes" vote when Ugandans are asked in a referendum next month whether long-standing restrictions on political parties should be lifted.
Museveni, who has yet to say whether he wants more time in State House, is due to step down in March after serving two 5-year terms under a constitution written in 1995, nine years after his guerrilla forces seized control and he became president.
Many Ugandans, particularly in urban areas, reject claims by Museveni's supporters' that the 61-year-old general is the only candidate with a clear vision for the country.
But in rural areas, many say lives have improved immensely since he ended the country's darkest days under dictators like Milton Obote and Idi Amin.
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