Kale Kayihura can’t impose Museveni as president of Uganda

In 1993 Museveni declared that if the people who are the sovereign force don’t want their leader, then he/she should go. He added unambiguously that the role of the army is to guard borders and maintain internal peace. “The army should guard what the people want, not do what the people don’t want”. The police force also has responsibility to maintain law and order.

Following the massively rigged elections of February 2011 with some five million Ugandans disenfranchised and many foreigners brought in to vote, the people of Uganda have rejected the results of these rigged elections at the presidential, parliamentary and local levels. They want to exercise their right of peaceful assembly and freedom of speech to denounce the results and stop the formation of an illegitimate government. International instruments and Uganda’s constitution allow peaceful assembly and freedom of speech. Kayihura cannot violate these rights and freedoms with impunity.

By banning planned demonstrations under the pretext that they will be violent, Kale Kayihura is in effect imposing Museveni as president of Uganda. This imposition goes against Museveni’s own understanding of the will of the people as he articulated in 1993 namely that security forces should guard what the people want, not do what the people don’t want. The people of Uganda have rejected the February 18 elections so Museveni cannot be president without their consent. Millions of them were disenfranchised.

Ugandans have the right to assemble peacefully anywhere in the country and the freedom to express their opinion including preventing Museveni from continuing as president. If Kayihura violates these rights and freedoms to defend the president instead of the people, he will have a case to answer. He should not take this warning as a joke. If the people of Uganda choose to assemble peacefully and Kayihura uses police force and some people are killed and others injured he will be individually responsible and liable for punishment.

Article 28 of the ICC regarding “Responsibility of commanders and other supervisors” states that a military commander [or inspector general of police] or person effectively acting as a military commander [or inspector general of police] shall be criminally responsible for crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court committed by forces under his or her effective commander and control, or effective authority and control as the case may be, as a result of his or her failure to exercise control properly over such forces”.

Article 25 (2) regarding individual criminal responsibility states that “A person who commits a crime within the jurisdiction of the Court shall be individually responsible and liable for punishment in accordance with this Statute”.

The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) applies equally to all persons [including the inspector general of Uganda’s police] without any distinction based on official capacity. Thus a Head of State or Government, a member of Government or parliament, an elected representative or a government official is not exempt from criminal responsibility under the Statute (ICC Rome July 17 1998).

We appeal to all Ugandans and well wishers to compile information including photographs, names and titles of assaulted persons and security personnel that kill, injure, intimidate or mistreat Ugandans. We hope to receive this information regarding the violence that marred February 28, 2011 mayoral elections in Kampala that resulted in one person killed, and scores of others injured.