Things Heat Up in the Pearl

If you've been following the news lately, you might have seen some headlines about Uganda. Opposition leaders have been arrested all week, some of them multiple times, for staging a Walk to Work/Walk to Church day to protest high fuel prices in Uganda. Police claimed they were "inciting violence". From everything I've read and heard, this is an outrageous lie and an oppressive abuse of state power. These people were simply trying to walk to work, there was no call to action, except the action of walking.

Anyways, I didn't really understand the whole stunt in the first place. I was told by some of my fellow Ugandans that Kizza Besigye, the main opposition leader, was trying to identify with the common man and gain their support. If you ask me it's a bit too late to be staging such acts right after an election where the incumbent candidate won an overwhelming majority of the popular vote, but whatever.

If you are trying to dissent against government, why protest something (commodity prices) that is not state controlled or even within the realm of government control? I think it was just another way for Ugandans to express their dissatisfaction. There have been many passionate and long discussions among my teachers this week regarding these protests.

My head teacher made a clever observation questioning why the government even chose to condemn and arrest these leaders for simply walking. In doing so, the government sends a signal that they think these leaders are a threat and could potentially cause serious havoc. Why not let them walk? Why give them all this publicity?

Things got out of hand on Thursday and Dr. Besigye ended up getting shot in the hand by a rubber bullet. Below is a picture of him at a news conference shortly after receiving medical care.

Seeing this picture of Besigye in his Ugandan-style cast stirred up some emotions within me. This is sad. The man was simply trying to walk to work that morning. He was doing nothing wrong, breaking no laws and he ends up being treated like an animal. I think being in country for a year and listening to my fellow teachers rail against the evils of Museveni has instilled within me some feelings of sympathy for opposition leaders.

These are simply people with new and different ideas on how to run and improve the country and best care for its people. My time here makes their effort and ideas important to me. And my interest and hope for their earned success escalates.