By Aggrey Baba
NUP spokesperson and Leader of Opposition in Parliament (LoP) Joel Ssenyonyi has dared President YK Museveni and his government to stop treating political dissent as a crime, asking why a freedom fighter, as Museveni calls himself, should fear citizens who hold a different political view.
The Nakawa West MP said genuine freedom fighters should be comfortable with criticism and political competition, arguing that the history of Uganda was shaped by people who were willing to challenge an established political order because they believed a different system of governance was possible.
“If you say you’re a freedom fighter, true freedom fighters are always okay with somebody opposing you. If you don’t accept criticism, you are fake freedom fighters,” Ssenyonyi said.
He was speaking at a NUP headquarters in Kavule, where the party welcomed back political prisoners, including NUP Deputy President for Buganda Muwanga Kivumbi on Wednesday, who secured bail on Tuesday after months in detention. Using the occasion, Ssenyonyi confronted what he described as a growing “spirit of fear” in Uganda, saying that people should not be intimidated merely because they question government decisions or support a different political party.
He argued that Uganda’s history makes it difficult to justify criminalizing alternative political views.
“Our forefathers rejected colonial rule because they had a different school of thought,” Ssenyonyi said, recalling that many people resisted colonial rule, with some being imprisoned or even killed for the political ideas they believed in.
He questioned why, decades after independence, Ugandans should now be made to feel that holding a different political opinion is unacceptable, under the NRM government.
“There is a creeping narrative that it is illegal, that it is abominable to have a different point of view,” he said.
Ssenyonyi insisted that NUP is a political party operating within the law and that its approach is to compete politically rather than take up arms or going to the bush like Museveni did in the 80s.
“We are a political party. We follow the law. We are not going to pick guns and go to the bush,” he said, arguing that political opposition should not be turned into a criminal offence.
He added that the people of Uganda should be free to question government actions, speak against corruption and raise concerns over alleged abuses without fearing arrest or intimidation.
The LoP also turned his criticism toward the treatment of people suspected of committing offences, arguing that suspects should be processed through the established justice system rather than subjected to unlawful treatment.
“If you suspect that somebody has committed an crime, what does the law say? Arrest them, take them to police, not to a torture chamber,” he said.
Ssenyonyi further argued that political disagreement is not limited to opposition parties, pointing to, according to him, the increasing pressure on some members of NRM who express views different from the established position. On this, he said some NRM politicians had previously mocked opposition MPs for refusing to support the status quo, but that the same question of dissent had now become relevant within the ruling party itself.
For Ssenyonyi, the central responsibility of the opposition is precisely to question those in power when they believe government is acting wrongly.
“So when you do wrong, we shall keep you in check. We shall call you out,” he said, with his remarks coming as NUP leaders welcomed members and supporters who had recently regained their freedom after prolonged legal battles, with the party using the occasion to reaffirm its call for political competition, freedom of expression and adherence to the law. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
