Uganda: Kayihura Links A4C to Terrorism

Andrew Bagala & Joseph Kiggundu

28 September 2011

http://allafrica.com/stories/201109290235.html

The Inspector General of Police, Maj. Gen. Kale Kayihura, yesterday said Activists for Change (A4C), a pressure group that has been leading protests against the soaring commodity prices, has links with terrorist groups.

The accusation, however, was immediately refuted by A4C activists. Gen. Kayihura said the A4C leaders are ferrying youth to Afghanistan for training in terror tactics. “We are also following information that there are youth trained in terror tactics in such places as Afghanistan that have been recently infiltrated into the country,” Gen. Kayihura said at the Uganda Media Centre in Kampala yesterday.

A4C coordinator Mathias Mpuuga yesterday described Gen. Kayihura’s statements as “ridiculous and calculated move to terrorise the opposition.” “I can frankly tell you that I can’t locate Afghanistan on the globe without assistance. The IGP shouldn’t think that Ugandans are too stupid to swallow all concoctions he tells them,” Mr Mpuuga said in an interview. His statement comes after A4C announced it will launch new ways of protest against the rising commodity prices next week.

It is not the first time government has linked opposition members to terrorism. The State in 2005 accused Forum for Democratic Change party leader Kizza Besigye of having links with the People’s Redemption Army (PRA), but court dismissed the treason charges.