Museveni will not sack me — Ofwono

BY CYPRIAN MUSOKE, SANDRA LUCKY
AND CAROL NATUKUNDA

MOVEMENT director of information Ofwono Opondo has said nobody should expect President Yoweri Museveni to sack him over allegations that he shoplifted a pen and underwear from Uchumi Supermarket.
Speaking on the Capital Gang talk show yesterday, Ofwono dismissed the shoplifting allegations.
“The people behind the story thought they could intimidate me to keep quiet, resign or even be sacked by President Museveni,” he said.
“Nobody should expect President Museveni to sack me over the story,” he added.
Last week the media was dominated by the shoplifting story. It alleged that the Movement director was found with an undeclared Bic pen and underwear after a shopping spree at the supermarket.
Opondo said he had lodged a suit against The Monitor newspaper, seeking damages and compensation for libel.
He said that he had been “unfairly, maliciously, and vindictively treated” by the paper and added that they would have to prove their case before court.
“I am seeking an apology and compensation from The Monitor for this. For the politics of it, this is a hazard I must face,” he said.
Opondo said the Uchumi management had cleared him, using evidence recorded on their close circuit cameras and his conscience was clear.
“I thought I would never go to court against any media house. They can think they are making fun out of it, but I will walk to the bank smiling,” he said.
He said he would not be intimidated into resignation and that his boss the President had no reason to sack him. He said he had no apologies to make for having taken a pen and later paying for it.
Opondo said he has also applied for a court injunction to stop further damage caused by continuous publication of untruthful and malicious stories against him.

Monitor set to defend Opondo story in court
By Frank Nyakairu

KAMPALA — Mr Ofwono Opondo has threatened to sue The Monitor for reporting that he was intercepted and fined for suspected shoplifting at an up class shopping centre in Kampala on April 2.

This newspaper reported on April 5 that Opondo, the director of information at the Movement Secretariat, had been caught and fined for picking and not paying for a Bic pen and a piece of underwear from Uchumi, a grocery store at Garden City Mall.

Now Opondo, who has denied shoplifting and says he simply forgot to pay for the pen, wants, among other things, a front-page apology to him in this newspaper and payment of Shs100 million in general damages.
His lawyers – Mungoma, Mabonga, Wakhakha & Co. Advocates – wrote to The Monitor on Thursday claiming the article and the subsequent ones "lowered our client's estimation in the eyes of right thinking members of society and have placed our client's career in jeopardy".

They thus demanded that this newspaper apologises and pays within six hours or they sue. But The Monitor is having none of it. It has since instructed its lawyers, Nangwala, Rezida & Co. Advocates, to vigorously defend the story in the courts of law because it was not "false or malicious".

"Our clients stand by the publication and insist that in respect of the matters they published, your client's reputation was brought to its proper level," The Monitor lawyers replied Opondo's lawyers.
The Monitor also roundly rejected Opondo's 6-hour ultimatum to act on his demands "with the unseriousness it deserves".

In a letter to the editor published on April 6, Opondo denied taking underwear. As for the pen, he said he "inadvertently placed [it] on my shirt pocket and forgot to present for billing when I was done with the shopping". He said he had picked the pen from the shelves to use to mark the items on his shopping list.

The Monitor says it has five witnesses willing to testify against the Movement Secretariat official, who also is the spokesman of the NRM political organisation, in the courts.

Peoples' Media:

Dictator Museveni has since 1997 been involved in the systematic destabilisation of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the resultant horrific civil war. This involvement continues to this day.As early as 1992 'The Guardian' reported that:


"In the six years since Yoweri Museveni took power, his government has managed to alienate three of its five neighbours. Relations remain good with only Tanzania and Congo DRC." Museveni sparked off Africa's most tragic humanitarian crisis when it subsequently sought to destabilise Congo DRC. In 1997, the London 'Times' reported that "Uganda ... backed an uprising by rebels in eastern Congo DRC who's aim was to drive the Zairean Army from the region and bring down President Mobutu"

In 2001, Human Rights Watch documented this involvement, stating that Museveni had "fuelled political and ethnic strife in eastern Congo with disastrous consequences for the local population."This had included stirring up ethnic violence, murdering civilians and "laying waste their villages."


Human Rights Watch had also previously noted that Uganda was responsible for the murder of large numbers of civilians in north- east Congo.This was also confirmed by Congolese human rights organisations.In late 2002, Uganda was subsequently again accused of deliberately seeking to "provoke ethnic conflict, as in the past" - actions which the United Nations warned risked genocide in the region. In July 2003, a Human Rights Watch report, '"Covered in Blood": Ethnically Targeted Violence', stated, for example, that Uganda was involved in the ethnically-motivated murder of several thousand Congolese civilians in the Ituri area of north-eastern Uganda. Uganda continues to arm Congolese gunmen responsible for horrific acts of terrorism - acts every bit as horrific as those attributed to the LRA in northern Uganda. The Museveni regime was also accused of militarily and logistically assisting the UNITA rebel movement in Angola.


Additionally, the UN has repeatedly stated that Uganda was criminally and systematically stealing Congo's resources. A Human Rights Watch report also noted that Ugandan forces "have blatantly exploited Congolese wealth for their own benefit and that of their superiors at home."

The hypocrisy of Museveni's public bleating about neighbouring states allegedly destabilising his government is clear.
The International Community's Responsibility for Continuing Conflict in Uganda.


The international community itself shares a partial responsibility for the continuing war in northern Uganda. This responsibility is at least two-fold. Western governments continue to project Uganda as a success story when the reality is that it is wracked by political turmoil and Uganda's economy is artificially buoyed by aid. A Refugees International report has observed, for example, that according to one estimate donors provide about 53 percent of Uganda's budget. They also cited a UN official as saying: "[D]onors don't want to portray Uganda as another African country that is going down the drain. Because they give so much to Uganda, donors have a political motivation to make sure that it is seen as a success story."


This pretence ignores, in addition to the conflict in northern Uganda, Museveni's responsibility for the deaths of millions of civilians in Congo. The international community, by facilitating a military rather than a peaceful solution, also bears a direct responsibility for prolonging conflict.

A UN news report, for example, has noted: "Some aid agencies working in the north have criticised the international community for allowing Museveni's government to keep the humanitarian crisis in the north on the back burner ... For example, they have expressed concern over the government's recent decision to re-allocate 23 percent of funds from other ministries to defence, seen by some as indicating a preference for a military solution over a peaceful settlement in the north."


We call upon all our friends around the world to publish the crimes of Yoweri Museveni and also educate their local communities about the african Polpot.