When I saw the Democratic Party President residing and discussing change on NBS Frontline, I was shocked, he were arrested in few hours before and the DP headquarters was supposed to be sealed off. What happen there from the morning and the start of the campaign against the abolishment of Article 102 (b) and it seemed fair that the Police did this. When knowing what it did to fellow opposition leaders in the Forum for Democratic Change.
“Arrested for launching campaign against Land And Age Limit Amendments. Our spirits and resolve are strong. The police should not manhandle our people who are constitutionally mandated to exercise their rights. Ugandans join us in the struggle” (Norbert Mao, 20.07.2017).
Well, what amaze me is that in the Police Station he was drinking Pepsi and waiting to be released, not looking bothered by the place he was in. The pictures speak for themselves; we have seen when others been arrested and how they feel. They look miserable and a bit fatigued. However, honorable Mao was just waiting for it soon to be over. There even been rumors that DP Youth and Activist came to his rescue and wanted him free. However, they were getting threats of arrests. So Mao told them to scatter and do not save him.
The whole in retrospect seems a bit strange, since the FDC leaders are still lingering together in the maximum prison of Nalufenya far from where they was arrested in and around Kasangati in Wakiso District. This clearly shows who the real opposition to the NRM are! Since the arranged detaining of Mao had no dire consequence. He could wash it off and spend time talking against Museveni again on NBS TV Frontline, like nothing happen earlier in the day.
Norbert Mao, the former harsh and real critic of Musevenism and the NRM, what have you done? How can this be, in one moment your acts and the parties acts get you into trouble, a few hours later your on stage discussing politics and debating on NBS. AIGP Asan Kasingye even said this: “we just accompanied him to police”. If it is so, then the whole ruckus was a forged and staged affair from both the authorities and the DP. This does not look good. To be clear it insightful to the place Mao has in the political landscape.
If a FDC leader and FDC President were to be detained, he would have been there to late night and any sort arrangement later in the day would have to be postponed, because the authorities would not care. They could even leave you behind bars so you do not get the opportunity to meet in court to answer for another of your crimes. That has happen and will surely happen again, especially since the NRM continues to use the Police Force for political gains!
So the play-play of the matter is still at large and how the outcome will be, if this was a façade or a real deal, I am not sure, because the interesting picture from the Police Station together with the Police Force spokesperson seems odd, in the sense that the fighting in the streets was real and the brutal arrests. However, the aftermath and the ease of getting out of there. Make the whole thing seem a bit strange. Not real, not genuine. The reality of the matter is very unclear.
Because the narrative is not that he got arrested, but the demonstration got squashed, he went on NBS TV and the FDC leaders are still lingering in jail for doing the same acts. This shows the double standard of the Police who with ease are throwing the FDC behind bars, but letting the DP President go. That is what is so rare and shows the reality of his position. The Good DP are so good and can therefore get away. However, if he was Bad DP he might have ended in the hospital.
These sorts of acts adds to the speculations and the arrangement of shadow deals done by the DP and the NRM. Since they are getting away and sipping soda at the Police Station, while the FDC are taken away in haste. Clearly, the reality and the perceived are playing games on you. The strangest of it is that the Police Force was not claiming it and brushing it off. While Mao was condemning the Police and hours later appearing with his usual grin on NBS Frontline. That is just rare and special. If this had happen to Besigye or even Muntu, the whole NRM would praise democracy, but alas it is not so.
This is just the state of affairs and what is beneath the surface is hard to know, but if it is rocks, dirt or oil. Who knows, but what we do know was this whole arrangement looks staged and sounds staged. It is just the matter of how deep the matter goes and who sanctioned it. Peace.
MinBane 