Mobilization Message from the FDC about Demonstration tomorrow on the 5th May 2016!

FDC 05.05.2016 Planned March

Dear FDC members, leaders, supporters, colleague political parties, peace Lovers, citizens and all Ugandans. Tomorrow 5th May, is a day when we start County wide peaceful demonstrations. Converge at nearby FDC Offices, March to the Rally venue as we call for an Independent audit of the 2016 elections. In Kampala, we gather at Najjanankumbi at 10am, then march to Nakivubo blue for a RALLY. We defy the Kavuma Historical illegal order. Defiance in action! NO TURNING BACK.
Ingrid Turinawe
FDC MOBILISER

Kayihura: Besigye to be confined to his home until further notice (Youtube-Clip)

“The police have returned to the home of former FDC presidential candidate Dr. Kizza Besigye to restrict his movements again, a few weeks after they ended a 47-day siege on the home. Inspector General of Police General Kale Kayihura told journalists that Dr. Besigye will be confined at his home in Kasangati, Wakiso district with effect from today until further notice. The police chief asked Besigye and his FC party to drop the defiance campaign which breaches last week’s ruling by Deputy Chief Justice Steven Kavuma that banned FDC activities for four weeks” (NTV Uganda, 2016)

When FIFA’s Blatter commends somebodies development you should look into it; as the President Obiang of Equatorial Guinea has a son in Teodorin who loves the luxurious life in Los Angeles, as the paperwork shows!

Equatorial Guinea CAF Cup Blatter

“This is the first time I have been to your country but it will definitely not be the last. You have so many development projects going on that I will almost certainly have to come back,” Blatter said” (Embassy of Equatorial Guinea, 2010).

When Sepp Blatter have seen development he have seen some brown-envelopes and adjustments made for the FIFA organizations and the other football bodies that have helped enrichen that organization and not develop the country that FIFA is in. If it was so then the stadiums of Brazil would be used for something else than a Bus-Park. But this here is not about the use of FIFA, but his visit surely gives the prospect of how the society is. As this country I will be focused on have had a tightknit organization built around the Executive and the Party he is running.

TheodoreObiang1

“Cabinet Ministers and public servants in Equatorial Guinea are by the law allowed to owe [sic] companies that , in consortium with a foreign company, can bid the government contracts  and should the company be successful, then what percentage of the total cost of the contract the company gets, will depend on the terms negotiated between the parties. But, in any event, it means that a cabinet minister ends up with a sizeable part of the contract price in his bank account” – Teodorin Nguema Obiang Mangue

I will today show a little levels of corruption from the grand-family of the longest staying President on the African Continent per today. This President have just recently won yet another election with over 90% and secured a new term in the country he has run since a coup d’état in 1979. About the way President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasongo, who have filtered the oil-rich monies to himself and family over the years and used government funds on expensive things for himself or his son Teodorin Obiang who at some point even dated the American rapper EVE. But, hey take a look!

“According to the documents from the Justice Department and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Teodorin, who earns a few thousand dollars a month as a minister in his father’s government, transferred about $75 million into U.S. banks between 2005 and 2007, via wire transfers processed by Bank of America, Wachovia, UBS, Union Bank of California and First American Trust” (Global Witness, 2009).

Obiang

In 2011 this was the official salary of Teodorin Obiang as Ministry of Forestry:

“His official salary today is approximately $6,799 per month, or less than $100,000 per year, according to the official E.G. sources” (United States District Court for the Central District of California, 2011).

This is just the beginning and shows to what extent that Equatorial Guinean President and his son have bought with the government funds. This is money earned through the exporting crude-oil and the dividends from it. The Government gets the earnings with the ELF contracts for instance. So there is money to spend of the President as the oil-money could be used for personal affairs it seems. Not that it is justified and therefore it has even cause controversy in the United States as his son are leaving in Los Angeles.

Obiang Cars

What spending had Teodorin Obiang done in Los Angeles:

“The Defendants in rem, obtained through the abuse of public office and illegally laundered through the abuse of financial institutions and businesses in the United States, are believed to be currently located within the Central District of California” (…)”The Defendants White Crystal-Covered “Bad Tour” Glove and miscellaneous other Michael Jackson memorabilia” (…)” These items are believed to be located at the defendant real property located on Sweetwater, Mesa Road, California” (…)”The Defendant, 2011 Ferrari is described as followed: One 2011 Ferrari 599 GTO” (…)”The defendant 2011 Ferrari is titled in the name of Teodoro Nguema Obiang and is believed to be located at the Sweetwater property” (…)”The 2004 PSI Report revealed that, from at least 1995 to 2004, the Government of E.G. directed that payments from the oil companies be made into accounts at Riggs National Bank in Washington D.C. According to the PSI Report, aggregate deposits to E.G. Government accounts totaled hundreds of millions dollars at a time and were so large that by 2003, the E.G. portfolio had become the bank’s largest single costumer relationship, with balances and outstanding loans that together approached $700 million. The PSI Report concluded that Riggs Bank “turned a blind eye to evidence (,) suggesting the bank was handling the proceeds of foreign corruption” (…)”In March 2001, Nguema bought a new 2001 Bentley automobile in Beverly Hills, California, paying for it with a personal check for $360,000, drawn on his Riggs Bank account. A few months later, he brought a second 2001 Bentley, from the same dealership in Beverly Hills, for which he paid $57,500 in cash and $228,000 by personal check drawn on the same account. In 2001, at the age of 33, he also bought a $6,5 million house on the Antelo Road in Bel Air” (…)”For example, he spent millions of dollars to buy dozens of sports cars and luxury vehicles. These included, amongst others, 24 cars with a total declared value of $9.68 million that he stored at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angles until November 2010, when he shipped them, along with $400,000 worth of motorcycles, to France. These cars included a $ 2 million Maserati, two Bugatti Veyron sports cars for which he paid $ 2 million Maserati and $ 1.3 million respectively, eight Ferraris (including the defendant 2011 Ferrari), seven Rolls Royces, five Bentleys, four Mercedes, A Porsche, two Lamborghinis, and an Aston Martin” (United States District Court for the Central District of California, 2011).

Here I have just showed how much monies have been moved to a Bank Accounts over a Period which is in the amount of 700 Million Dollars and can only be seen as grand amount of monies taken from Equatorial Guinea to be used for personal affairs in United States. As we later see the amounts spent on cars and the sophisticated cars and size of the car park that is filled with Bentleys, Ferraris, Aston Martin, Bugatti Veyron, Rolls Roycs and even a Maserati. That shows the level of spending and the ignorant value of the government funds, as spending on a crystal-white Michael Jackson glove together with a house in Bel Air and the one in Sweetwater estate. But this is not it all, sadly the Obiang family spending in the US is staggering.

If you think that Teodoro and Teodorin were done in this time period to spend money in the United States, they did more!

“In June 2005, Nguema purchased two 50-foot, high-performance racing boats in Ft. Myers, Florida, for a total of over $ 2 million” (…)”Between April and June 2006, Nguema’s luxery expenditures included a combined total of $68 million on just two assets; the defendant Malibu mansion, for which the purchase price was $ 30 million, and a Gulfstream G-V private jet, which cost over $38 million” (…)”In a single month in 2004, for example, he spent over $80,000 at Gucci and over $50,000 at Dolce and Gabbana in a shopping spree in the United States” (…)”From June 2010 through June 2011, Nguema spent a total of approximately $3.2 million on various items of Michael Jackson memorabilia, including $275,000 for the defendant “Bad Tour” glove, $80,000 for a pair of crystal-covered socks, $140,000 for a jacket and shirt, and $245,000 for a basketball signed by Michael Jackson and basketball star Michael Jordan” (…)”Nguema created companies in various names, including “Beautiful Vision, Inc” and “Unlimited Horizon Inc.,” and opened bank accounts in the United States in the name of those companies. Nguema also wired transferred funds to bank accounts controlled by intermediaries, who then used the money to pay for his personal expenses, or transferred money from those accounts t accounts in the names of the corporations he formed, and then used the corporate accounts to pay his personal expenses” (United States District Court for the Central District of California, 2011).

Jackson_memorabilia

How did Teoderin buy the Michael Jackson Memorabilia?

“In August 2010, an intermediary registered Nguema to bid in a live auction of celebrity memorabilia (called the “Legends” auctions) taking place on October 9, 2010, in Macau, China (October 8, 2010, in California). The intermediary advised the auction house by email to “Please make sure that [Nguema’s] name does not appear anywhere, he should be invisible,” and to “please make sure that where a name needs to be, my name is there. This is very important” (…)”The auction house prepared two invoices in the same name of the intermediary, totaling $1,398,062.50, using the address of the Sweetwater property” (…)”When one of Nguema’s assistants received the invoices, she instructed the auction house to revise the invoices to indicate that the purchases were being billed to “Amadeo Oluy, Malabo, Guinea Equatorial-“. These items were shipped to E.G.” (…)”In December 2010, another function of celebrity memorabilia was held by the same auction house, this time in Beverly Hills, California. An intermediary came to the auction on Nguema’s behalf and successfully bid in the defendant white crystal-covered “Bad Tour”glove and other defendant items listen in Attachment A-1, attached hereto. The total cost of these items was $872,125.00” (…)”On January 31, 2011, Nguema caused $872,112.00 to be wire transferred from an account in the name of Eloba Construction, S.A., Equatorial Guinea to an account at American Business Bank in Los Angles in the name of the auction house, Julien Entertainment, to pay for the items purchased at the December 2010 auction. This items was subsequently packed for shipment and delivered to the defendant Sweetwater property” (…)”On March 29, 2011, an employee of the auction house sent her employer a email regarding the invoices for the items purchased on behalf of Nguema, asking,

I assume I need to rewrite the invoices in the same fashion as I’ve done in prior sales? (putting lots on one page, adding catalog page numbers and changing the Buyer’s name” (…)”In June 2011, Nguema again used an intermediary bid on more Michael Jackson memorabilia at another “Music Icons” auction. The intermediary successfully bid on the items costing a total of $379,692.00 sent by “Oluy Amadeo” in Equatorial Guinea to the bank account of the auction house at American Business Bank in Los Angles, California. The items purchased by Nguema at the June 2011” (United States District Court for the Central District of California, 2011).

As you can see the son of President Teodoro Obiang really have a thing for the memorabilia of the late Michael Jackson and have spent a fortune on it. That shows where monies go to. So it is not only the properties, but all from signed posters, gloves, statues and bags; all kind of former fandom equipment and limited editions that are signed by Michael Jackson and used by him in his lifetime.

Obiang Cartoon

Here is an letter from CSO’s on the case:  

“Mr. Nguema’s attorneys, Juan P. Morillo and Tomislav Joksimovic, at the time of Clifford Chance US LLP, formally “agreed, and…so advised [their] client, that none of [Mr. Nguema’s] assets in the United States [would] be moved or otherwise made unavailable until…the government has had an opportunity to consider any evidence presented [by Mr. Nguema’s counsel]”.4” (…)”About three weeks later, Mr. Lyons informed Ms. Hudson “that the items of Michael Jackson memorabilia named as defendants in the complaint [were] no longer in the United States.”7 Her October 27, 2011 formal demand that Mr. Nguema return the Michael Jackson memorabilia to Government representatives in the United States went unheeded. Indeed, Mr. Nguema’s contempt for his legal obligations and the commitments made by his representatives were amply illustrated by his decision some time later to flaunt the Michael Jackson memorabilia in a highly publicized exhibition in Equatorial Guinea” (…)”According to the same information received, Mr Roberto Berardi had found out early 2013 about the asset forfeiture action by the United States Department of Justice against the US-based properties that his business partner had purchased by using accounts in Equatorial Guinea banks in the name of Eloba Construccion. Mr Roberto Berardi had subsequently raised the issue with his partner Mr Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mangue. There are reasons to believe that Mr Roberto Berardi could be a very damaging witness in the US investigation and was therefore arrested and imprisoned” (…)”Ensures that Mr. Nguema and/or his family does not, and does not appear to, retain de facto control over disposition of any funds or other benefits that are intended to be, or may be, allocated to the benefit of the victims of the alleged corrupt practices, namely, the people of Equatorial Guinea” (Apdhe, Open Society Justice Initiative, EGJustice and Sherpa, 2014).

This here is the picture of how the Government of Equatorial Guinea is spending their monies on the family of the dictator instead of building infrastructure, health-care and the education. There is viable evidence of fraud and embezzlement as the government funds getting send directly from Equatorial Guinea to American banks used on whatever luxuries that Teodorin Obiang wants or needs in his collections. Either if it is a fancy car or something from Michael Jackson memorabilia. That proves to what extent this family eats the government funds and doesn’t care how it looks. The country is nearly never in the headlines, last real time before the recent elections was because of the African Cup of Nation that was held there and even made Sepp Blatter visit the country from his hectic office days in Switzerland.

You can think about the information and what signal it really sends. What this means for the government of Equatorial Guinea that the President Obiang can stay in power since 1970s and over 30 years. The viable price of that is the embezzlement and the grand-corruption. Together with the made corporations to move the embezzled money from the Nation to other places like Los Angeles, California. Peace.

Reference:

Apdhe, Open Society Justice Initiative, EGJustice and Sherpa – ‘Proposed Settlement in US v. One White Crystal-Covered “Bad Tour” Glove and Other Michael Jackson Memorabilia; Real Property Located on Sweetwater Mesa Road in Malibu, California; One 2011 Ferrari 599 GTO; and US v. One Gulfstream G-V Jet Aircraft Displaying Tail Number VPCES, Its Tools and Appurtenances (collectively, the “Case”)’ (05.08.2014) letter to Eric H. Holder Jr. Attorney General in U.S. Department of Justice.

Embassy of Equatorial Guinea – ‘FIFA PRESIDENT PRAISES DEVELOPMENT IN EQUATORIAL GUINEADURING VISIT’ (08.06.2010)

Global Witness – ‘Secret documents reveal multi-million dollar shopping spree by Africandictator’s son; US authorities fail to act on evidence of corruption’ (17.11.2009)

United States District Court for the Central District of California – United States of America V. One White Crystal-Covered “Bad Tour” Glove and Other Michael Jackson Memorabilia; Real Property Located on Sweetwater Mesa Road in Malibu, California; one 2011 Ferrari 599 GTO – Case of Forfeiture in REM. (13 October 2011).

Opinion: The Ugandan Police is so embedded into the Politics; that it’s level is questionable; as IGP Kayihura decides and ushers political work: when he should focus on crime and not on Besigye!

Anti Riot Police 30.01.2016 Before FDC Campaign Kabale

The Ugandan Police have monitored and been a political engine for long but the recent days and months to prove to what extent. As the realization of how embedded in the ruling it is. There is not only the ways the Uganda Police Force is detaining Opposition and Monitoring Opposition leaders. That with the knowledge of the Democratic Party members, Forum for Democracy leader and supporters; the way the Police uses it’s time to cause havoc around Besigye every time he kicks his shoes on the outside of the compound of Kasangati, Wakiso.

We are at the point as I have realised something that is not only a Police State where the Police is embedded with the Political Framework and monitoring the Opposition. That is bad enough. It is nothing positive when you know that the Police is Preventative Arrest and dropping more charges on the Opposition leaders then there are Malaria Medicine at the Yumbe Referral Hospital. Not that says lots of the state of Yumbe Hospital, more about the state of Police who has the time to add charges on every movement from the several citizens who have a mind of not being parts of the National Resistance Movement, henceforth challenging the freedoms and liberty of these individuals deserve.

Well, the Police Force have taken the liberty to involve themselves directly in the Politics. As the Inspectorate General of the Police have taken decisions that he shouldn’t have. Not in an ordinary state of affairs, as his job should take criminals not decide political issues. The IGP Kayihura have taken the decisions to crash consultations meetings and stopping the opposition from having ordinary work and assemble in districts and towns around the country. Well, that is under framework of the Public Order Management Act. That is not what made me think today. It is because as the Councillors of Kampala was sent to the Executive or President Museveni, with the cover-up of the involvement of the Police in that shin-ding.

Kale Kayihura Letter to Amama 040915

“He [Kayihura] made telephone calls to some councilors who were having second thoughts about attending the meeting,” one of his aides told us” (Kiggundu & Lubwama, 2016). This proves his involvement in politics and using his networks of security organizations in Kampala together with talk to bring them to the State House. That is not the job of them, but in the regime these days it is…

What made me think was the knowledge of the existence of a Senior Super of Police Susan Kasingye Commissioner Electoral & Political. That the Uganda Police Force need a person to commission the Electoral and Political offenses and the admission of doing political work in the country as she must have a Commission who monitors and decisions of the Political Parties as she can’t be as useless as Hon. Byandala the Minister without Portfolio. Ms. Kasingye the daughter of Kayihura must have something to do, as she must be involved in the care of collecting information and spying on the Political Parties. If Norbert Mao thinks of drinking in Gulu or Padre; If Mbabazi thinks of filling gas on the only car he has in his driveway and so on.

sir-humphrey-appleby

But to have Directorate and Commission on Electoral and Political should boggle your mind and send the “Yes, Minister” squabble and crass reality as if a man throws the egg to the wall and think that it still be a whole egg. An egg is fragile and will break on the moment it hits the wall. That is something we knows as we know how weak the eggshell is before throwing it into the air.

As we still remembers how the public shunned the local councillor elections and the tiny numbers as the Electoral Commission was tallying the results. In midst of this there was waiting for the final call from IGP Kayihura to verify if Makerere Division of Kampala where the results was showing that Doreen Nyanjura was the winner, but the EC didn’t verify and accept the result before Kayihura had given his thumbs-up; as there was speculated that he tried to trade the position to somebody else and the deal went through. And if it is so, then the Political system is totally infiltrated by the Police Force.    

When you also knows that the Daughter of Kayihura is a SSP Kasingye and works with the Political Aspect of Policing then you can start to wonder what they are up-to and to what extent as the Police Force have already destroyed and inflicted their presence into the sphere of the opposition parties and their assembly. The other is the way the IGP Kayihura have all through the Pre-Election period and Campaigning either stifled the opposition or ushered the stage for the ruling party. That is evident through the stages, radio-closing, guarding the government buildings, anti-riot police following the campaign trails and detaining opposition members and electoral monitors right after polls. The Police involvement is embedded in the structure of the state. It is not the equation that they should be in, they should catch and secure that their no theft, killings and crimes done, not what Mbabazi or Besigye is up to as citizens of the Republic of Uganda. Peace

Reference:

EDRIS KIGGUNDU & SIRAJE LUBWAMA – ‘Inside story of Museveni, KCCA Entebbe meeting’ (27.04.2016) link: http://www.observer.ug/news-headlines/43917-museveni-meeting-with-councillors-attacks-musisi

While petty thieves get fined or detained; why doesn’t the international community or multi-national organization come with decent sanctions towards the Presidents who steals an election and in the end steals a Nation?

NRM-ballot-boxes-599x250

In our day and time there is a level of impunity and levels of carelessness that to an extent that revolutions and demonstrations are the only way out the deadlock that our leaders lead into it. The power-hungry and overstaying leaders who have no sense of fellow brethren and their woes as their cash-flow, castles, cars and estates grows piles upon piles up-to moon.

With that in mind you have these so-called elections that is more selected through in-party and electoral commission made-up for the ruling party and their President than for the people and the citizens to pick their leadership in the confidence of the polls. Even if the Election Day is there and the ballot-paper exists, there is still; the counting of the ballot and the rigging the result that matters. Especially when the higher courts and hollow chambers that are hand-picked men and woman that the President already trusts to deliver his verdict.

If a brother stole a can of fuel or took something at the supermarket and got caught. The World would proclaim and through fines and detaining be officially a crook or thief. Thieving on the higher level embezzling from banks and taking accounts of ordinary savers is called more economic mismanagement. The bank will get a fine and the CEO will be suspended, but the bankers will most likely get away since they are walking in the same clicks as the mayors, governors and Members of Parliament.

The Same mind is if you are a President or MPs and take the elections. If you are lucky then the international observers because of their affiliation with donor-countries or friendly powers of the regime; then the Observer Mission can be claiming fraudulent elections for free and fair with some malpractices and let it go. So politicians are not in the same league as the rest of us. If they are the right ones and ruling in the right area and have the right support from the international community. Then they can take a country, have an election and say they we’re elected free and fair.

Pakistan 2014

Even if they create a sudden stability it will still be tension in the countries and certainly not a healthy peace. As the countries election is a sham and a fraud. The People know that and the citizens are not behind the Parliament and the President. Therefore the President knows this and hides behind the army and the Police. Those two are the keys to his long-staying in Power. Since they don’t need as big support as the public and their reforms for development; since the reforms and public transparency is not needed the President will not deliver that. So the central-leadership is more about delivering new equipment and salaries to the Police and the Army instead of citizens.

The Citizens are the ones that are stolen from and their voices are not being herd. The Police State and Militarized politics that are eating society and taking away the freedom and liberty that are expected to have legitimate power. Certainly the price of the stealing a Nation through the sham election should have created more fuzz and more sanctions. There should be an international reactions and not resume as everything is normal after a stolen election.

Party Election

That Multi-National Organization and Bi-lateral unions between countries should make it harder for world leaders and Presidents to get away with the massive theft of taking a country. The certainty of if the leader can take an election, then the same leader can also take National Treasury and other funds as their own; make the national funds and budgets as private funds and embezzle national budgets to build own fortune instead of delivering citizens needed services of health care, infrastructure and schools.

The thieving of a nation should be questioned and should have certain reactions. Not walk like and react like you’re won the election and is a proud winner. Receiving congratulation letters and making plans for the swearing-in ceremony; also using a government funds on party celebrations while the decay of the institutions that the government is providing is falling apart. That is just wrong. That a man or woman who is illegitimate and uses the power would be more respect and not need the security organization to temper with the civil society or the opposition parties.

MelesElection3f

If the winner of the election was legitimate then the opposition would still create and question the ruling-party. Still the questions does not end with army taking over certain parts of the county, detaining leaders of the opposition or having most parts of the election decided in courts as the Members of Parliament squabble after a rigged election. The MPs shouldn’t need to settle the matter in courts as much as the Executive shouldn’t need to be questioned. The People should have given it and accepted it in accord with the ballots and the tally from the National Talley Centre. But when the Executive needs the Court and the MPs need it too; then you know something is up.

Zanzibar Election 2016

So why is it without reason, not really questioned or not really any sanctions against the men and woman who steals elections and rig them for their own benefit? While a man stealing a beer at the local supermarket get fined? There is a double standard as it is with bankers who through rigid laws and rigid malpractices of economic framework can get away with mismanage fortunes; while the man who empty the cash-register at the store on the corner get detained for up-to a year depending on the local laws. I am just questioning the reasoning for the well-meaning and fun-loving society we live in where the impunity and the world leaders are in cahoots to take power; while we the ordinary people see the arrangement and should question the demeanor and the reason behind why the national leaders and President with all their power. Can take the Power and get away with it, while we the other ones cannot do the same. That is not justice or rule of law. That is injustice and impunity. Then you shouldn’t ignore the call for defiance or resistance or demonstrations as the people should react to the open-door theft of their state, their government and their public will. Peace.

Opinion: Preventative Arrest is used against the Opposition, especially the ones that are in the sense of the President is violating his playground.

Rukungiri 19.04.2016

I don’t know what the plan is for these Police Officers of the NRM regime now-a-days. It’s like it is their plan when they wake up and find some opposition members to detain. Not find some murders or criminals, but political opposition.

Today after driving from Kabale there level of arrest and towing of cars in convoy over the mountains shows the depressing levels of oppression towards the opposition. It was not only Dr. Kizza Besigye! The other ones who also was taken in custody by the Police we’re Erias Lukwago, Munyagwa Mubarak and Ingrid Turinawe. We could see pictures of the towing over the Rwamucucu toward the Ntungamo. So the actions of the Police was clear, ride them over the mountains with all force where they got towed by an Armored Personnel Carrier (APC). In Ntunagamo they destroyed the car of Besigye and sprayed them with pepper-spray. From there taken away in the well-known Police-Van that has been in public display of character since Mid-February!

Besigye Release on Bond 05.04.2016

So the madness of today proves the value of disgrace the government and security agency have against their own citizens and political active citizens. Instead of using intelligence to catch killers and thieves the police officers are busier to write bond papers with “prossession” and Preventative Arrest than doing proper police work. This must be the idea of the 1986 generation and use of the liberation that we’re to happen.

The NRM regime is busy using the Police Force and Army to spread fear and intimidate the locals and citizens then creating freedom and liberty. The Police Force are detaining politicians who are not the voice of the President. The President decides how easy life can be for the opposition and oppositional figures. With the long-serving Erias Lukwago has to continue to court to be justified to work as Mayor in Kampala.

Kampala 16.11.15 UPF 2

That the streets with mambas, APC and other anti-riot police cars that are riding in the streets. We can now see the manifestation of the suspect spying and following opposition leaders from the Police Force. That they are espionage are important part of the Police activity. As the limited freedom of the opposition is clear!

The Preventative Arrest is used by the Police by any means. Certainly the Police Force should have other means and other tasks at hand. Still, even getting people hired to monitor the Anti-Porn bill. Instead they are busy with spying on the Opposition and detaining them. The law that is in-force is called this: Habitual Criminals (Preventive Detention) Act 1951. An is used to catch opposition day-after-day!

That the Police Force we’re saying that certain routes of driving is wrong and not-right to drive for an Opposition leader, since he had planned to travel to Rukungiri after being in Kabale. That proves the non-sense and attitude of the ruling regime. And that should be questioned. President Museveni and IGP Kayihura knew that this would happen as the orders usually happen from above. They would only happen if the DPC wanted to show progressive thinking and try to take the space of Andrew Felix Kaawesi in Kampala. But I doubt this was the case today.

The action of deciding where a supposed “free” citizen is driving is insane. The sudden actions from the Police prove the malice. This malice and clear message is only in the mind of the IGP and the President. That Besigye and the other FDC leaders is used to being in the spot-light of the Police. That comes with the territory. The Territory that President Museveni sees as his playground. The Playground that FDC and opposition violates. So the Preventative Arrest is supposed to be a warning of his power and his justice. Not the justice or freedom after the codes of law. The rule of law doesn’t matter when you have a ruler of Museveni. The types of Museveni think he is above the law and the one that matter is him. Therefore the Opposition is a hassle and shouldn’t do anything but be a silent minority. So the arrests are set to stop the actions of the opposition and the recruitment of them.

Entebbe Road Kampala 19.02.2016. Demonstrations

So the Preventative Arrest and violations of JUST action is just to perceive and preside the power without question. President Museveni is militarized leader and deals through chain-in-command. He is the general everybody is supposed to blindly following his orders. In that sense that the opposition violates that grounds to oppressive behavior. And with the oppressive behavior against him he has to show aggression without mercy. Therefore the Police detain and harass the opposition until they learn to follow. But that is what we ordinary folks called a Police State and Militarized State or Totalitarian State.

NRM Regime is using the Preventative Arrest at every moment towards the Opposition, the ones that are in the sense of the President violating his playground. It is worrying how easy and how much they have done it over the recent months. This has escalated since Polling Day in Mid-February 2016. There been through the Pre-Election Period the same kind of actions as the Opposition have been detained and released on Bond. The Police work to stifle and cross the opposition at every step. This is tool of oppression the Uganda Police uses the most and will continue to use. This Preventative Arrest and also the Public Order Management Act; an Act I have discussed before and can easily address again! Peace.

Uganda: President Museveni said: “Homosexuals are Disgusting” (Youtube-Clip)

“Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has signed into law a bill that toughens penalties against gay people and defines some homosexual acts as crimes punishable by life in prison” (CNN, 2016)

 

Besigye and Lukwago in a Kabale Debacle; and the Calvary hurries to tow-them and arrest them in the mountains (Updated)

Kabale Blocking Hotel 19.04.2016

As of yesterday the FDC Leader travers from Kasangati to Kabale and even had an unintended procession through Mbarara as a result of driving through the town to get ready for the court and charges given in Kabale Court.

Earlier in the day the Uganda Police Force who have followed the cars of the FDC through the country had gotten orders to stop the FDC convoy from entering the Court at Kabale. The Uganda Police Force had put up road-blocks around the hotel of Dr. Kizza Besigye. So that he could not answer the case together with his counsel of Erias Lukwago.

Kabale 19.04.2016
FDC Prayers in Kabale today!

If this the right case it is the continuation of servings that have been served FDC and A4C activist after the “Walk to Work” in 2012. That the Kabale High Court has given them before and in midst of last year Besigye and Lukwago did not show up in September 2015. This was because the Kabale Municipality said they incited violence in Kabale in 2012.

Here are the statements on what happen on the day and there is more to come.

Besigye Kabala 19.04.2016

Erias Lukwago statement:

“We travelled long hours, and spent a night in Kabale to answer tramped up charges before the chief magistrates court in Kabale, following a warrant of arrest that was issued against us at the instance of the state, only to be informed by a Grade one magistrate that the trial magistrate is on leave. The case has been adjourned to 6th June 2016” (Lukwago, 19.04.2016).

Kizza Besigye statement:

“Our case has been adjourned to 6th June, 2016 and the reason is that the magistrate who was supposed to handle the case is away on leave. As we were on our journey back around Butobere we were cut off and surrounded by 3 Police vehicles plus the notorious Police van UP 4860 that is driven by the goons” (Besigye, 19.04.2016).

Rukungiri 19.04.2016

Latest Update!

“The Police has brought an armoured carrier and now they are fixing the winch to tow us away in the mountains towards Rukungiri” (Besigye, 19.04.2016).

“Our vehicle being pulled by a police truck through Kabale mountains, on a terribly bumpy and slippery murrum Road towards Rukungiri. It’s raining cats and dogs” (Lukwago, 19.04.2016).

19.04 Mountains Besigye

So without charges or any reason have the Ugandan Police taken them by the force and using an Armored Personnel Vehicle. This is the democracy of Uganda at the moment and the fight against the rigged election should continue; as the 10th Parliament is just a fraud as long as the Police can tow-cars with Party-Officials and Opposition leaders with no apparent reason.

Further on the way: 

“Now at Rwamucucu, heading towards Muhanga in Rukiga county” (Lukwago, 19.04.2016).

Mountains Part 2. 19.04.2016

“We are between Rwamucucu and Muhanga in Rukiga, they have stopped in a swamp and they are holding canisters of teargas they want to break into our car and get us out” (Besigye, 19.04.2016).

 Mountains Part 3. 19.04.2016
I think that is enough for now. There will be more to come. Peace.

Press Statement: “Torture and illegal detention on the rise in Burundi” – Zeid (18.04.2016)

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GENEVA, Switzerland, April 18, 2016 –  The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein warned Monday of “a sharp increase in the use of torture and ill-treatment in Burundi” and voiced concerns about worrying reports of the existence of illegal detention facilities, both in Bujumbura and in the countryside.

“Since the beginning of the year, my team has recorded at least 345 new cases of torture and ill-treatment. These shocking figures are a clear indicator of the widespread and growing use of torture and ill-treatment by government security forces,” said Zeid. In all, some 595 people have been ill-treated or tortured since April 2015, a figure which is likely to be an under-estimate.

“Torture and ill-treatment mainly take place at the time of arrest, upon arrival or during detention, especially in facilities run by the Service national de renseignements (SNR), the police and, to a lesser extent, the army. Perpetrators of torture and ill-treatment have so far enjoyed total impunity,” the High Commissioner said.

“Many detainees visited by our team in the past few weeks had fresh wounds on their bodies. Some were unable to walk without assistance after being beaten with belts, iron rods or sharp objects, or burned. I am profoundly disturbed by these terrible accounts and I urge the Burundian Government, in the strongest terms possible, to put an immediate end to these unacceptable and illegal practices,” said Zeid.

Most of the tortured and ill-treated detainees say they were denied medical treatment. Some said intelligence services hid them in the toilets for days so their torture wounds could heal before they were returned to cells holding other prisoners.

During a visit by a UN human rights team to SNR facilities in Bujumbura last week, 30 of the 67 people held there displayed physical signs of torture. Many irregularities were identified during the visit, including the fact that 25 of the detainees had been kept in custody beyond the prescribed maximum time limit. In addition, while all detainees had been arrested for what were reportedly minor offences, the accusations entered against many of them in the SNR registry were for much more serious criminal offences, including undermining State security, illegal possession of arms and espionage.

Several cases of ill-treatment and torture have also been reported at police stations, especially in those located in the two Bujumbura neighbourhoods of Citiboke and Musaga, and at the Mutakura military camp.

The High Commissioner noted that the use of torture and ill-treatment was also widespread in the countryside, noting a case of two men who said they were arrested by SNR agents in Nkamba province at the end of March. They said they were seriously beaten and repeatedly dropped in Lake Tanganyika with their hands tied on several occasions in order to force them to confess to crimes.

“I recognize the efforts made by the Government in releasing at least 45 demonstrators following the Secretary-General’s visit. However, in addition to the reports of torture and ill-treatment in official detention facilities, I am deeply concerned about information emerging about the existence of secret detention facilities across the country,” the High Commissioner said. A man who was arrested at the end of March by unidentified armed individuals stated that he was taken blindfolded to an unfinished building in an unknown location, where nine other people were also being held. The victim reported witnessing the execution of two fellow detainees before he managed to escape. Reports have also been received of another illegal detention facility, allegedly set up by the police with the support of the Imbonerakure militia, in the city of Ngozi, in the northern part of the country.

The High Commissioner said he had also received “persistent reports of arrest, detention, torture, ill-treatment, enforced disappearances and assassination of certain members of the police and military by other government forces.” Members and officers of the former Burundian Armed Forces – known as ex-FAB and which was predominantly Tutsi – appear to have been particularly targeted, including some retired soldiers.

Many soldiers interviewed by the UN Human Rights Office while in detention said that the torture or ill-treatment they endured was aimed at forcing them to confess their support for rebel groups or to provide names of other people suspected of supporting them.

Some soldiers detained at the SNR facilities claimed to have witnessed the killing of a number of their colleagues. On 10 April 2016, the body of an ex-FAB soldier, who had been arrested the previous day by the police, was found in Gesenyi, near Citiboke. At least five soldiers have also been reported missing following their arrest by police or military forces over the last few weeks.

Zeid also deplored the increase in attacks by unidentified armed men, reportedly linked to rebel groups. At least 30 attacks in Bujumbura and in several provinces took place in March, killing one civilian and four soldiers. Around five civilians were also reportedly killed during a rebel attack near the Tanzanian border on 11 April.

The High Commissioner also condemned the targeting of members of the ruling party, the CNDD-FDD, including the assassination of a local official and member of the CNDD-FDD who was shot at his home by unidentified armed men on 13 April in the town of Kajaga, in Bujumbura Mairie province.

A look into how the American and British Companies defied the embargo and UN sanctions against the South African Apartheid Government in the 1970s and 1980s

sa-anti-apartheid-poster

This here will be about how American and British interest we’re in the draconian Apartheid regime in South Africa in 1970s and 1980s. I been looking into how businesses at the time went through hoops and not caring about the United Nations Sanctions and resolution 418 of 4th November 1977 states this:

Determines, having regard to the policies and acts of the South African Government, that the acquisition by South Africa of arms and related material constitutes, a threat to the maintenance of international peace and security; Decides that all States shall cease forthwith  any provisions to South Africa of arms and related materiel of all types, including the sale of transfer of weapons and ammunition, military vehicles and equipment, para military police equipment, and spare parts for the aforementioned, and shall cease as well the provision of all types of equipment and supplies and grants of licensing arrangements for the manufacture of the aforementioned” (UN, 1977).

So with that in mind, we can see how businesses of United States and Britain started and worked as subsidiaries in South Africa during the Apartheid, where the instances of FORD Motors and Leyland Vehicles we’re produced and used by the Police under the worst atrocities of a regime who used their laws, security agencies to harass the majority; while keeping the minority rulers and their economic incentive intact by any means. So that big business and other ones defied the Sanctions and even collaborated with necessary arms, cars and other procurement for the totalitarian state; shows how far the Corporation goes for profit and serve even governments who has no quarrel with prosecuting innocent citizens. Therefore the history of these corporations and their dealings should come to light and be questioned. As business today does the same under regimes that are totalitarian and militaristic with the favor of elite and harassing the opposition. That is why we can see at the tactics of the 1970s and 1980s and see how they might be used today.

So with that introduction take a look at my findings and hope you find it interesting.

1959_new-age-aid

How to start the discussion:

“Johannesburg Star (South African daily), Nov. 26, 1977, at 15. See also 1978 Hearings, supra note 13, at 846 (statement of John Gaetsewe, General Secretary of the banned South African Congress of Trade Unions) (“The ending of foreign investment in South Africa … is a means of undermining the power of the apartheid regime. Foreign investment is a pillar of the whole system which maintains the virtual slavery of the Black workers in South Africa.”); Christian Sci. Monitor, Feb. 21, 1984, at 25 (statement by Winnie Mandela, wife of imprisoned African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela)” (Hopkins, 1985).

Some money earned by the SADF at the time:

“According to official SADF accounts, the money that would have been recouped from the sale of ivory would flow back into funding the Unita rebels. However, Breytenbach knew that in the year 1986/1987 alone, the SADF’s assistance to Unita through military intelligence totalled R400 million (ZAR2005=R2,5 billion) and this excluded the supply of almost all Unita’s hardware and fuel. It is therefore unlikely that this was the reason behind the SADF’s interest in ivory smuggling. It is more likely that the potential for self-enrichment that this presented to SADF officers was enormous. General Chris Thirion, Former Deputy Chief of Staff Intelligence, agrees and suspects that Savimbi was in fact over-funded at the time” (Van Vuren, 2006).

Africa 1963-64

How much RSA used on Military Equipment during Apartheid in the 1980s:

“According to evidence presented to the UN Security Council arms embargo committee in 1984, out of its annual total arms procurement budget of some R1.62 billion over R900 million was to be spent on arms purchases from overseas” (…)”This R900 million is spent on the procurement of arms directly by the regime from overseas and via the private sector. No official figures are published about how much is actually spent on direct imports of armaments. However, it can be estimated from figures contained in an in-depth survey by the Johannesburg Sunday Times in July 1982 that imports from overseas were 15 per cent of defence spending which then stood at R3,320 million per annum” (AAM, 1985).

How that happen:

“Those breaches of the arms embargo which have been exposed have also revealed the myth of South Africa’s self-sufficiency. Equipment smuggled into South Africa include weapons such as machine guns, rifles and pistols as well as spares and components for them. In a trial at the Old Bailey, London, in October 1982, the Court was informed that South African efforts to produce components for pre-war machine guns had not been successful. This points to the serious deficiencies in the quality and reliability of even minor items manufactured in South Africa” (AAM, 1985).

Export of R.J. Electronics International:

“Britain’s refusal to strictly implement the UN arms embargo and its continuing military collaboration in various fields are not totally surprising since much of this arises out of its traditional relationship with South Africa” (…)”They failed to re-appear in Court on 22 October 1984 and the following weekend gave a press conference. At it, Colonel Botha disclosed that they had operated as undercover agents for five years and “had saved the country at least R5 million on purchases of vital equipment”. Metelerkamp claimed he was only a consultant to Kentron and was the Managing Director of R J Electronics International. However, it emerged that he had been employed by Kentron up to a month prior to his arrest, and R J Electronics International was “a company used to purchase illicit arms” (AAM, 1985).

Other Examples:

“One cargo of FN rifles was initially exported by air to Red Baron Ltd at an address in Zurich before being forwarded to South Africa. This company, however, was not Swiss, but registered in England. Its directors were Mr Trinkler and two others who had also been directors of Kuehne and Nagel in Britain” (…)”The most controversial case was that of the British Aerospace naval reconaissance aircraft, the Coastguarder. In Hay 1984 it was disclosed that British Aerospace had been approached by the South African Government and that initial discussions had taken place concerning the purchase of eight aircraft. These were to replace the Shackleton aircraft which were having to be phased out. The South African authorities had sought to evade the arms embargo by forming a Coastguard service as a civilian authority through which the order for the aircraft would be placed. Repeated efforts to secure from the Government an undertaking that the Coastguarder would not be granted licence for export to South Africa met with the response that “it would not be proper for me to offer a definitive view now on the hypothetical question on the issue of a licence for the export of an aircraft such as the Coastguarder to South Africa” (AAM, 1985).

Shell Corporation working with the Regime:

The South Africans agreed and supplied a cash advance that allowed the traders to purchase a tanker, shipping company and the required insurance. The tanker docked in Kuwait and filled its tanks with oil owned by Shell. The oil was registered for delivery in France. However, en route to Europe from the Gulf the tanker stopped in Durban and off-loaded almost all of its oil crude oil—almost 180,000 tonnes—with the South Africans paying the difference between the purchase price and the fees it had advanced for the purchase of the tanker. The Salem was then filled up with water in order to create the impression that it was still laden with oil. Off the coast of West Africa (Senegal), at one of the deepest points of the Atlantic, the ship was scuttled and the crew, who were prepared for the evacuation, were conveniently ‘rescued’. They had hoped to make an extra $24 million off the insurance claim for the lost oil. Following investigations by the insurance company the main perpetrators were prosecuted. The biggest loser next to Shell was South Africa, asit agreed to pay the Dutch multinational US$30 million (ZAR2005=R436 million) in an out-of-court settlement. Shell was left to carry a remaining loss of US$20 million. The use of corrupt middlemen had cost South Africa almost half a billion rand. There was no prosecution in South Africa of the officials at the SFF who had authorised South Africa’s procurement of a full tanker of oil from three novice (criminal) entrepreneurs” (Van Vuren, 2006).

Leyland-SA

British Subsidiaries in South Africa:

“Many of these subsidiaries are British. They include Leyland (Landrovers and Trucks); ICI (through its 40 per cent holding in AECI) (Ammunition and Explosives); Trafalgar House (through Cementation Engineering) (artillery shells); ICL (Computers); GEC including Marconis (Military Communications Equipment); Lontho (aircraft franchises); Plessey (Military Communications Equipment); BP and Shell (oil and other petroleum products for the military and police)” (…)”An impression of the full extent of the role of British subsidiaries in South Africa in undermining the arms embargo can be obtained from studying Appendix C. This is a list of British companies with subsidiaries in South Africa which are also known to be engaged in the manufacture of military and related equipment” (AAM, 1985).

British Mercenaries:

“British mercenaries, some recruited. originally for the forces of the illegal Smith regime, are serving in a number of South African Defence Force units, including the infamous “32 Battallion” operating out of Namibia into Angola. A British mercenary was killed in the South African commando raid on the residence of South African refugees in Maputo, Mozambique, in January 1981” (AAM, 1985).

“British Government policy so far has been to grant permission for Officers to serve in the South African Defence Forces.” (…)”This was explained by Secretary of State for Defence, Michael Heseltine, in a letter to the Rt Hon Denis Healey:

“An Officer is required to resign his commission before joining the forces of a country that does not owe allegiance to the Crown, and if he did not do so then the commission would be removed. As you will appreciate, this is the only power that we can exercise over an officer who has already retired from the Services. Guidance is given to officers about these procedures before they retire, but no specific recommendations are made about which countries’ Armed Forces an officer should join; nor do I believe that it would be right to do so.” (AAM, 1985).

GM ZA Apartheid

American Businesses under Apartheid:

Approximately 350 of the most prominent companies in the United States, including more than half of the Fortune 500’s top one hundred firms, operate subsidiaries in South Africa [18]. Another 6000 do business there through sales agents and distributers [19]. The United States holds fifty-seven percent of all foreign holdings on the Johannesburg stock exchange, including gold mines, mining houses, platinum mines, and diamonds [20]. The State Department estimated that U.S. direct investment amounted to $2.3 billion in 1983, down from the $2.8 billion calculated by the South African Institute of Race Relations for 1982 [21]. Other estimates put overall American investment, including loans and gold stocks, at $14 billion [22]” (…)”rcent [25]. U.S. exports to South Africa, however, grew from approximately R1.2 billion in 1979 to R2.7 billion in 1981 [26]. As a result, the United States emerged as the Republic’s largest trading partner [27]. Apart from its quantitative impact, U.S. business investment has a qualitative impact disproportionate to its financial value” (…)”John Purcell of Goodyear concurred, asserting that economic pressures will not encourage nonviolent social change in South Africa; rather, this will be brought about by “economic growth, expanded contact with the outside, and time” ((Hopkins, 1985)

aa_sun_19760715_p007-002

Ford sold cars to the Apartheid regime:

“Ford Directed and Controlled its South African Policies from the United States, Exported Equipment from the United States, and Acted to Circumvent the United States Sanctions Regime: (New York Southern Cout Case, P: 65, 2014)

“Thus, despite the tightening of U.S. trade sanctions in February 1978, Ford U.S. still announced a “large infusion[] of capital into its South African subsidiary. Ford injected $8 million for upkeep and retooling” (New York Southern Court Case, P: 67, 2014).

“Ford support was significant: “[B]etween 1973 and 1977 [Ford] sold 128 cars and 683 trucks directly to the South African Ministry of Defense and 646 cars and 1,473 trucks to the South African police. Ford sold at least 1,582 F series U.S.-origin trucks to the police” (…)”Despite the prohibitions, Ford continued to supply vehicles to the South African security forces with the purpose of facilitating apartheid crimes. Ford denied that its continued sales to the South African security forces ran counter to the U.S. prohibitions, on the basis that the vehicles did not contain parts or technical data of U.S. origin” (…)”Notably, into the 1980s, Ford sold vehicles that did not need to be “converted” by the apartheid government for military or police use but were already specialized before leaving the plant in South Africa” (…)”Ford built a limited number of XR6 model Cortinas known as “interceptors” that were sold almost exclusively to the police. The XR6 was special because it had three Weber model double carburetors, as opposed to all other Cortinas that had only one double carburetor” (…)”Ford knew that the normal market for these vehicles was the security forces. The vehicles were deliberately pre-equipped with armor and military fixtures and designed for easy modification by the security forces to add additional defensive and offensive features” (…)”By making profits which they knew could only come from their encouragement of the security forces’ illicit operations through the sale of vehicles, parts, designs, and services, Ford acquired a stake in the criminal enterprise that was the apartheid regime” (New York Southern Case, P: 71-77, 2014).

hans-haacke-a-breed-apart-1978-6

Leyland under Apartheid:

“The British government now virtually owns British Leyland and therefore controls the company’s operations in South Africa. Yet it has done little in practice to press for the rights of black workers to organize through trade unions, or for the recognition of the unions for collective bargaining purposes” (…)”The South African “branch” is Leyland’s biggest operation in the world outside of the U.K. At present it is the 8th largest car manufacturer (holding approximately 5% of the market) and the 7th largest commercial vehicle manufacturer (holding approximately 5,5% of the market) in South Africa. Despite the depressed condition of the South African Market it sold 1959 vehicles in January-February of 1977 alone” (…)”B.L.S.A. has massive contracts with the South African state. It is one of the chief suppliers of the South African Defense Force, providing not only trucks and landrovers (which form the backbone of anti-guerrilla operations) but also armored personnel carriers. Of course, the figures for these contracts are never made public” (…)”For example, in June 1976 it was announced that B.L.S.A. had won a £1.9millon order for 250 trucks from the Cape Provincial Authority” (…)”As Leyland itself have argued , It “must conform, it not entirely” to South African government and established wishes” (Coventry Anti-Apartheid, 1977).

This here is not easy to finish up as the implications of this deals and arrangement used to support a government that oppressed and detained the majority. This Apartheid government did it all openly and with a clear message that the white minority should rule, while the rest should serve them.

In that context these businesses earned good amount of cash and profits for their stakeholders and their shareholders. While their products and procured services by the state we’re used to oppress majority of people in South Africa. We can surely see the amount of money and how this have affected the society and given way for the government of the time to continue with the process of detaining and harassing the majority of South Africans. This could not have happen if there wasn’t a helping hand from businesses and their subsidiaries. This here is just a brief look into it.

Certainly this should be studied even more and become clear evidence of how heartbreaking it is to know how certain businesses and people owning them will profit on suffering of fellow human beings. That is why I myself shed a light on it, to show the extent of disobedience of the UN Resolution and also what these corporations does in regimes that harassing and oppressing fellow citizens for their background, creed, tribe etc. It’s just ghastly and makes my tummy vomit. But that is just me, hope you got some indication of how they did their business and served the Apartheid government. Peace.

Reference:

Anti-Apartheid Movement – ‘How Britian Arms Apartheid – A memorandum for presentation to her Majesty’s Government’ (1985)

Coventry Anti-Apartheid Movement – ‘Leyland in Britain and in South Africa’ (1977)

Hopkins, Sheila M. – ‘AN ANALYSIS OF U.S.-SOUTH AFRICAN RELATIONS IN THE 1980s: HAS ENGAGEMENT BEEN CONSTRUCTIVE?’ (1985) – Journal of Comparative Business and Capital Market Law 7 (1985) 89-115, North Holland

United States, New York Southern Court: Case 1:02-md-01499-SAS Document 280-1 Filed 08/08/14

Van Vuren, Hennie – ‘Apartheid grand corruption – Assessing the scale of crimes of profit from 1976 to 1994’ (2006)