Regional Trade Union Chief tells Ugandans to ‘rise up’
By Our Online Team
30th May 2011:
Rise up against dictatorship, Atwoli says
A whopping 2million people from across East Africa could soon be mobilised to join the ongoing ‘walk-to-work’ and ‘hoot for change’ protests called by ‘Activists for Change’ if President Museveni does not “democratise Uganda”; East African Trade Union Chief Francis Atwoli has warned.
The Standard, a Kenyan newspaper, reported last week that Mr. Atwoli, who is the Secretary General of the Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU), had said the crackdown on opposition leaders by President Yoweri Museveni was dictatorial. “…Ugandans must rise up against bad leadership. Museveni must democratise Uganda. He must respect human rights”, Atwoli said.
Mr. Atwoli, who was re-elected as COTU Secretary General on Saturday 21st May, also said images of Ugandan opposition leader Dr. Kizza Besigye being assaulted by security forces were appalling. The Trade Union Chief further warned Museveni of serious consequences if he [Museveni] does not return Uganda to a democratic path. “…If Museveni continues to harass Besigye, we will mobilise workers in the entire East African region for a protest march on Kampala”, Atwoli warned.
Mr. Francis Atwoli, who is also the President of the Trade Union Federation of Eastern Africa, was re-elected for a third five-year term to head the regional organisation that boasts of having an impressive membership of nearly two million workers.
The ‘walk-to-work’ protests were launched on April 11th 2011 by ‘Activists for Change’; a political pressure group, to protest against runaway fuel and food prices in the country that have left millions of poor Ugandans unable to afford a decent meal a day.
Dr. Kizza Besigye has consistently maintained that every single Ugandan has a constitutional right to move freely within Uganda and that he, like many other Ugandans, merely responded to the call by ‘Activists for Change’ urging Ugandans to ‘walk-to-work’ to demonstrate their displeasure with the government’s inability to deal with the food and fuel crisis.
President Yoweri Museveni has however been unapologetic for the assaults on Dr. Kizza Besigye, saying the latter is an ‘in-disciplined’ leader who does not respect the rule of law. END. Please login to www.ugandacorrespondent.com every Monday to read our top stories and anytime mid-week for our news updates.
