Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, the president of the National Unity Platform, has said they are going to engage in more protests to not only force government work on the poor roads but also demand the release of all political prisoners.
Speaking at his home in Magere village in Kasangati Town Council, Wakiso district a day after the police withdrew from his home, Kyagulanyi said they have realised that protests actually work.
Last week, Kyagulanyi, together with Dr Kizza Besigye, Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago and other opposition politicians under their umbrella, United Forces of Change, demonstrated the poor roads in and around Kampala by planting banana stems and yams in the potholes.
The police reacted by sealing off the homes of the three leaders to stop them from joining the protests. Kyagulanyi beat the tight security around his house and showed up at different venues in Kampala.
Speaking to reporters, Kyagulanyi said they had come to the realisation that protests actually work because in many places where banana stems were planted in the roads, construction work on them had started.
"We thank the people who stood with us and participated in these protests. In most of the places where there were demonstrations, the roads have been worked on. Protests actually work, and don't stop putting pressure on these guys because they don't act without pressure," Kyagulanyi said.
He said that although the protests against the bad roads will continue, the second phase of the protests will call for the release of all political prisoners, including those who are being tried in the military court martial and those whose whereabouts are unknown. "We are going to mobilise Uganda to join us in demanding for our people.
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Museveni is releasing defilers and people who have stolen our money, yet he is refusing to release political prisoners. We are not going to stop; we will continue engaging other forces of change to demand the release of our people, and we will get our people back only with pressure," Kyagulanyi said.
He also thanked the people who have been sheltering him for the time he has been on the run. He said these people were the true heroes of the revolution.
"I said I would only be back when the police leave my home. I want to thank the people who have protected us, who have been enabling us to move, and those who have been giving us advice. It shows that this struggle is not for us alone. Even when Museveni was fighting [President Milton] Obote, the people used to protect them," Kyagulanyi said.
Asked why they chose to hold their demonstrations when the country was hosting two international conferences--the Non-Aligned Movement and the G77+ China--that have just ended in Kampala, Kyagulanyi said they wanted to unveil the abuses that are ongoing in Uganda for everybody to see.
"Museveni wanted to paint a picture that everything is ok in Uganda, but we wanted to show the world what Uganda exactly is," Kyagulanyi said.
Efforts to speak to the police, who have previously stopped all opposition protests, were futile, as all their spokespeople neither picked up nor returned our calls.
