By Charles Birungi
A 3-minute audio conversation between the National Unity Platform (NUP) leader Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu and one of his white handlers urging him to mobilise massive anti-government protests in Kampala has raised significant concern among Ugandans over continued foreign influence peddling in local politics.
The NUP leadership did not confirm nor deny the authenticity of the audio. However, the audio, which independent experts have determined is authentic, has been widely shared on social media. It was recorded during the period of the last general elections in November 2020 while the NUP leader was under preventive arrest by the security forces at his home in Magere village, Wakiso district.
In the audio, a German national only identified as Andrei could be heard telling Mr. Kyagulanyi that he has vast experience in politics and organisation of protests and civil unrest, including in places such as Venezuela, South America. Venezuela has witnessed some of the most protracted political and civil unrest in the last decade, forcing millions of Venezuelans to flee the country in search of better economic leaving conditions, social services, and peace.
“I just wanted to point out one thing,” Andrei tells Mr. Kyagulanyi, “that there are many comrades on the ground in Kampala who are waiting for directions in regard to the protests.” Mr. Andrei encouraged the NUP leader to come out boldly and invite his supporters in numbers to the streets so that the western community, the US, and others would see that the people were aggressively demanding for Mr. Kyagulanyi’s freedom.
In the audio, the NUP leader coyly agrees to undertake the bidding, emphasising that he would urge his supporters to be “non-violent but assertive”. It is suspected that the audio was leaked by disgruntled NUP members who want to expose the extent of their leader’s allegiance to foreign actors, and whose far-reaching influence in domestic policies of developing countries on the continent and beyond has left many in unending social-political mayhem.
The government of Uganda has in the past accused foreign governments, particularly the United States of illegally meddling in the country’s internal affairs contrary to the UN charter that calls on all members to respect the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and political independence of other states. In 2018, President Yoweri Museveni suggested that a new legislation could be drafted to penalise foreign collaborators that undermine national interests such as peace and security.
