The Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) has opened a black book, where it will keep details about the victims of torture under the National Resistance Movement (NRM) regime.
Addressing the media at the FDC headquarters in Najjankumbi, spokesperson Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda said the party arrived at the decision after realizing that there was organized torture of Ugandans currently going on in several places, gazetted and ungazetted, including at the Nalufenya Police and Detention Centre in Jinja.
This is not the first time a major opposition party in the country is opening a ‘black book’; in the 1980s the Democratic Party under Paul Kawanga Semwogerere ‘opened’ a black book to keep details about the people who had gone missing during the second Uganda Peoples Congress (UPC) regime of Apollo Milton Obote between 1980 and 1985. However, to date nothing is known about the DP Black Book.
“The party has established a book for registration of suspects and all who have gone missing in President Museveni’s regime,’ Ssemujju Nganda said adding that the FDC will liaise with family members of the suspects to monitor developments related to their relatives’ prosecution.
The legislator also demanded for the arrest and prosecution of the police officers who engaged in the torture of suspects at Nalufenya police station in Jinja.
For several weeks now the media has been awash with stories of torture at the Nalufenya police and detention centre following the massive harm caused to Godfrey Byamukama, the mayor of Kamwenge Town Council and other suspects that are linked to the murder of Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIGP) Andrew Felix Kaweesi who was gunned down on March 17, 2017.
Meanwhile, the legislator has lauded the government for the disconnection of unregistered simcards, but warned that there should be an orderly approach towards issues of national importance.
“Being a victim of simcard disconnection, I advise the state to first issue National Identity Cards to all Ugandans followed by disconnection other than issuing deadlines before the massive issuance of the IDs,” he said.
