
Rise Up Acholi: Christmas and New Years Message to Rise Up Acholi (RUA) Members (20.12.2024)




Dear Sir,
Retired Major General Mugisha Muntu, the National Coordinator or Party President of the Alliance for National Transformation (ANT), I got to say. I got to say one thing. Your mellow, pragmatic ways are understandable, but also a path that takes forever to make change. That’s just a fact, but the reality we live in. I understand why you act like this and takes this approach.
I got to say, I respect it and the way you handle yourself in public. As a politician and a leader, your mannerisms and choices, I have to vouch for them. They aren’t revolutionary or shocking in any regard. You are standing on principle and on your grounds. That is something many others cannot say.
Mugisha Muntu my writings on you in the past has been reflective on how you distanced yourself from the Defiance Campaign and how you created own fraction from within in the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC). It was you against Besigye and that shouldn’t have happened. You both work towards the same goal, but has different visions of approaching it. I can see that you two are brothers of the same struggle, but just act with alternative measures to gain true liberation and freedom in the Republic.
This isn’t words I would written in my hay-day of 2014 to 2018. I know, but I see things with other eyes. Aging has a way of making you see and oversee events with new eyes. That’s why the pragmatic and well thought acts are one way of doing it. Even if it is a slow measure and reformation by hoping the wheels fall off. It is an understandable approach, as it doesn’t cost and won’t be a dangerous path.
Muntu has seen conflict, seen the cost of liberation and been part of the struggle. As a leader and as a opposition for decades. He knows what price people are paying for their actions. Muntu has seen the price people are paying, the pain and the suffering they are going through. Therefore, we can acknowledge why he works this way.
Mugisha Muntu will address the current affairs and drop knowledge. That he does when he is invited. He shows up in solidarity, even with people who has betrayed him and the cause his fighting. Because deep inside, he knows these people have just acted in their faith and with their conscience in their fight in the same struggle.
That’s why you should respect Muntu. Not because his a party leader, a former FDC leader and someone who turned on Museveni. We who has been vocal supporters of Besigye. Should reflect on how we went hard on Muntu. I can see that was a bit to harsh and out of loyalty towards another fellow leader in the struggle. That’s something I have acknowledge and say, as anything else would be insincere.
Muntu deserves credit, acknowledgement and praise for what he has done. Not that he has moved mountains, but he has shown how a man can carry himself and silently building on his own. He has done so without going against the ones who went after him and vilified him. Which was wrong and I take my blame for my part.
I cannot take the time back or change it, but I can in this moment say: “I was wrong and I’m sorry”. More people should do the same too. As we all mature and gets more years on our backs.
Muntu deserves to be honoured and get his flowers. Not only nice remarks when his gone. No, he should be saluted, and people should study how he operates. As a man of honour and candance.
Best Regards
The Writer of Minbane

“You have deviated from developing talent now you are spreading obscenity? What is your intention? Popularity? People may cheer you on but that’s how far you can go. Imagine if Fred Sebbata did that the 40 years he was active in the industry, I don’t think anyone would want to associate with him now. If you want to spread obscenity, do it in your bedroom” – Katikkiro Charles Peter Mayiga (09.12.2024).
“The Katikkiro has today banned all songs by Gereson Wabuyi “Gravity Omutujju” and Yasini Mukasa “Lil Pazo” from being played on the Kingdom media stations BBS Terefayina and CBS radio. Katikkiro says the Kingdom cannot lead a run to moral decay in the society” (Buganda Media Centre, 09.12.2024).
“The Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) has directed all broadcasters and online platforms in Uganda to suspend airing specific songs by Gravity Omutujju and Lil Pazo, citing vulgar and culturally offensive content. The affected songs include Enkudi, Dooze, Okwepicha, Enyama, and Omunio” (Patro Uganda, 13.12.2024).
This week, the The Buganda Prime Minister or Katikkiro Charles Peter Mayiga announced the banning of the explicit content or the songs of Gereson Wabuyi aka Gravity and also songs related to Lil Pazo. These are two artists who are now in hot water because of the music they produce. Therefore, the Radio Stations owned by the Baganda Kingdom has stopped playing it.
That happened earlier in the week on the 9th December 2024 and days later on the 12th December 2024 the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) are investigating the songs and artists in question. They are also blocking and stopping radio stations from playing it. That’s when you know someone has the pulse and understand his surroundings.
The Katikkiro has openly and started an discussion, by using the influence of the Kingdom and their ownership of media houses. These entities which started to stop certain songs. They are now giving the UCC reasons to do this nationwide. Meaning this will influence other entities and media houses to block Gravity and Lil Pazo from being played there.
Yes, Gravity and Lil Pazo are in their rights to speak freely and create whatever they deem fit. Nevertheless, the radios and the media houses can within their range of editorial freedom and liberties too. They can block and not use their airtime or even broadcast their songs on their platforms. Which some has decided to do.
Alas, the matter is even bigger than all of them. As Gravity and Lil Pazo is now censored. They are practically suspended from the airwaves and aren’t allowed to be played. The ones downloading and listening to it in their own homes are fine. However, the ones who has to listen to radio won’t be able to listen to these songs right now. This because the UCC stepped in and the Katikkiro only started the show.
The ones outcrying censorship, I understand them. The artists should create whatever art they want, but they shouldn’t expect that its everyone’s cup of tea. The Katikkiro and the Kingdom’s media is allowed to address it the way they deem fit. Alas, the UCC as a nationwide entity have much more power and that’s when it’s a carpet ban, which is vastly different. As they are blocking these artists expression everywhere. Even if it is deemed inappropriate or as to sexually explicit. Nevertheless, that was their decision to play into that in this instance.
The UCC has been a tool to stifle the opposition and the voices of the oppressed. So, to see them block artists like these isn’t new and only fits a popular paradigm. Showing use of force and accessibility, as well as a pulse to what is happening in the Republic. Meanwhile, the artists are hurting, but they decided to make this content and to make this music. Now their music is facing the public scrutiny. That’s the cost of dropping it and broadcasting it to the public.
For me the most interesting thing here was how the Katikkiro was ahead of the UCC and the other state agencies. As he has understood something they didn’t and that’s why they are reacting. Instead of actually doing it themselves. Peace.

“Speaker, you made a pronouncement regarding tractors that were given to Northern Uganda by the President. And the pronouncement was simple, that the Minister of Agriculture and the Minister of Finance make sure that the tractors that they gave to the peasant farmers in Northern Uganda, specifically Acholi sub-region and Pader district do have ploughs with them. Up to this day, tractors are parked, they are rusting in the district, peasant farmers move by, they only have a glance and the tractors aren’t being used. I request that you direct that the tractors be availed with ploughs so that our farmers can receive them“– Christopher Komakech MP (27.11.2024)
Back in August 2022 … Minister Frank Tumwebaze launched the Over-the-top Tractor Scheme, which was planned to procure and deliver 6,000 tractors. Now over two years later. That Scheme is falling apart, and it hasn’t really been operative that long.
Minister of Agriculture, Animal Industry & Fisheries have failed the peasant farmers, which it promised to help here. We can just wonder how the tenders and what was the plan of the Ministry here. As the Tractor aren’t even in use, the ones they have bought as they are missing vital equipment to use them. That’s like having a factory, but not building it for the resources surrounding.
Just read the quotes here:
“It isn’t only in Acholi region, but in many parts of the country, these tractors were given and the Minister promised that they were going to procure the ploughs and this hasn’t been done. I undertake to inform the Minister of the urgency of this matter so that he comes to Parliament and gives us the latest position” (Mario Obiga MP – Minister of State for Urban Development, 27.11.2024).
It is just amazing how I could see this one coming from a mile away. I wrote this back in August 2022: “We can wonder, if Tumwebaze ever looked into that or even cared to see how it worked. It is sort of ushering in the mechanical agricultural revolution by the parish model. In such a manner, that can be seen as similar to the ones of the Soviet. There are so many questions to this… not only the funding and the supposed operation of it. After that… how is the oversight? What are the goals? Are it to buy over 6,000 tractors and that’s it? What happens after that? If there is no plan or sort of objective after that. What does it really do? Except making the MAAIF busy and have something to say in Parliament” (Minbane – ‘Opinion: Minister Tumwebaze over-the-top tractor scheme…’ 22.08.2022).
Two years later I was right in my assessment, because this is how they do. They are preoccupied and making schemes, but never ever think how to make them work. Instead of just launching it and making headlines. The government isn’t assessing, making logistical plans or even have framework for how to make things operational. That’s why Tractors like these lingers and unused in the Northern part of the Republic. The state procured Tractors, but had no plans or sought to check out what equipment the peasant farmers needed. Therefore, they are just rusting and not being used.
This is public wastage of funds. MAAIF and the Minister should know better, but we know his one of the untouchables in this regime. So, nothing will happen to him. Even if he does epic failures like this. Peace.

It took the authorities, the state and the Executive over 3 years and 8 months before releasing the 19 National Unity Platform (NUP) activists who was arrested in 2020 in Kalangala district ahead of the 2021 elections. There was others who was picked up in the Greater Kampala region like Mukono and Wakiso district.
They said these individuals had ammunition and explosives. The NUP activists surrounding the campaign and the election was dangerous, which was planning to destabilize the Republic. These individuals because of their charges has been arraigned in Court Martial as civilians. They have been targeted and used as pawns by the state.
In 2024 and after suffering for over three years. The likes of a minister by the name of Balaam visits these people. Civilians who has suffered, been punished and been said to be guilty of serious crimes. He told them that if they did accept the charges and ate the burden of just that. The minister would speak to the high above and get them released.
Now later that has happened. The 19 activists are free, but at a cost. They said the charges was truthful and they will forever be felons. That’s the initial price of their liberty and freedom. These people has lost their time and ability for years. These people shouldn’t have been behind bars to begin with. They took the time and weren’t allowed to be ordinary civilians.
That shows how the militarized states act. They are using Military Court and making up phony charges to pin on political active people. These people who are aligned with the wrong party and at the wrong time. They have been prisoners on conscience.
All of them deserves better and they have been served injustice. The pardon is only the aftermath. The state should have paid damages, but that won’t happen when they pleaded guilty to avoid more time in prison. They have accepted a crime that they never did. These people ate a charge to able to be released. That’s how sick and sinister this is.
The ones celebrating their freedom and liberty now. That can easily be taken away. If the President changes his mind or if the State can further the cases. We know how these things can go. Especially, if the individuals are daring to go into the ring and going into the public for the opposition, which was the reason why they got arrested and detained in the first place.
These sorts of cases will continue. People are on remand and in the middle of the system. Because the President and the authorities are there to violate them. They are daring to question the power and the ones who has instruments of the state. The Executive pardoned them today, but his government and his security agencies shouldn’t have kept them behind bars anyway. Peace.

“Entebbe Chief Magistrate Stella Amabilisi has sentenced TikToker Nabugodi Emmanuel to two years and eight months in Kigo prison. Nabugodi, who pleaded guilty, was charged with insulting President Museveni through a video he posted on his TikTok account, @rice027. The video, shared in September 2024, was deemed to demean and degrade the president, promoting hostility against him. The incident occurred in Wakiso District, after which Nabugodi went into hiding in the Bugisu subregion. Following weeks of tracking, police arrested him in Mbale” (What’s Up Mbale, 18.11.2024).
It is a doggy dog world and who let the dogs out? Woo wooo, who let the dogs out?
The Judge of the Dog Nation was arrested, detained and now is sentenced for insulting President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni. The Republic is in a sorry state when a guy makes his own Kangaroo Court on TikTok, but Teacher Mpamire is walking on holy grounds. You just know there is one law for Peter and another for Paul. We have seen that in other instances too, but this is just the gist of it.
The content creator was unlucky to not have good counsel or good representation. As he was bound for failure. The video in question is satire. The TikTok itself isn’t mentioning any names or such. So, the man should have gotten off the hooks on technicalities. Regardless, they wanted to make an example out of him. Just like they did to others before him. There is only one chief blogger in the nation and that’s His Excellency himself.
So, please get at me dog. Well, there is a lot of barking going on. Certainly the authorities do bite. They sniff one out and then decide to retaliate with their attack. That is showing here.
The ones justifying it is either naive or content with the status quo. Because they are getting worried about TikTok getting 20,000 followers and spreading his content online. Certainly this is a way of silencing him and stopping him progress. As they want people to only follow the NRM Way and not be left astray.
It is really showing the character of the state… and who they really are. When someone of this stature and with this sort of following is getting charged and sentenced like this. When they are making an example of him and giving him such a harsh sentence. It just shows who they are and what the state does now.
Rice027 shouldn’t get this punishment. The state should wonder why people are making skits and comedy like this. The state should be concerned with why they are doing it and for what reason. Secondly, why people find it funny and why it resonate with the people. That’s what it should have done. Even question the man for his motivation and why he does this value-addition and over-the-top entertainment to being with. Instead they are making him a felon and a criminal. It is just showing how limited freedom and liberties there are in the Republic. When you can’t make a mock court and be a mocking judge. That is too far…
The party of liberation cannot even stomach just that. The Liberator and the Freedom Fighter cannot handle the Dog Nation. Peace.

Caleb Akandwanaho aka General Salim Selah, the President’s brother and Minister without a Portfolio or an Office. The unannounced and above the scrutiny of the bureaucracy. The man, the myth and the legend in the flesh.
This is the mighty of the mighty. The demigod and the one and only. This sort of character that is high above and where you have no say. Where not even the Generals are allowed to speak or acknowledge. They are just supposed to drink their tea and shut the hell up. They should read the room and await their turn for getting the mercies of the Gods.
Alas, wherein there is the problem. That someone who haven’t been elected or appointed on merits. That has such power and ability to suck himself to the state. His there out of hereditary politics. Just because his the brother of the President. There is no skill-set or proof of wisdom from this man. No, just that he was born by into the same family and worked beside the President on certain affairs.
He won’t have it with questioning NAADs, OWC or anything else his operating. The things his the coordinator of and has a way of getting public funds for. He can linger in hotels and live a lavish life. Act like his making a difference, but never have to prove it. That is like enjoying the perks of office, but not having to account for it.
This is why his butt hurt by a Member of Parliament questioning him. A loudmouth at that. A sort of figure, former journalist and MP of the Opposition. Who dares to question him and calling him out too. That man should have known that the General and the brother of the President is untouchable. Just like the son is too. They can misuse office and piss public expenditure away with no regards of the people. These are the ones that dines with the gods for a reason. While the MP and civilians are dining with mere mortals.
Let’s be real for a minute. Gen. Salim Selah should have been silent. He shouldn’t have published those pages on Social Media. In reality it just exposes his vanity and entitlement. Like he is above it all. Neither is it reflective or genius. Instead he spits on the elected official and reasoning without reflecting on how it looks. This isn’t bad PR but generally an utter embarrassment.
The General would be better with a side-dish in an up-country hotel. Then spending time like a bored pen-pal writing letter to long lost friend. Because this is just exhausting. He should know better and some of the Presidential Advisors should give him a word. If not one of the staffers at the Office of the Prime Minister, which are directing the things his supposed to coordinate. Therefore, he could kick some knowledge and maybe even be better in public.
However, that is too much to ask of an old gentlemen like Caleb. His used to finer parts of life. Enjoy all the luxurious things the world posses. Meanwhile, no one is supposed to study his works and how he earned those. No, we are just supposed to accept that and call it a night. Peace.

“We are certainly not saying that we would have won each of these by-elections. But there is all evidence to prove that they were neither free nor fair. Even in places where their candidates could potentially win comfortably, they engaged in massive ballot stuffing” (Bobi Wine, 15.11.2024).
On Friday 15th November 2024, Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine published a text on social media addressing the aftermath and the results of the Kisoro By-Election. That to no avail or surprise went to the National Resistance Movement (NRM) or a NRM leaning Independent. This what went down and no one in the Republic was shocked by it.
We know how these By-Elections goes down and sometime you have to wonder if the Opposition parties aren’t reflecting on how they are operating. Because these elections goes down and they are all shocked about it. Instead of seeing the pattern and evolving. Following the same procedure and not acting accordingly. That’s what we have seen from the National Unity Platform (NUP). It haven’t barricaded or tried to force itself on the system. Instead it is just as complicit as the predecessors. Who are all banking on the same authorities and living in the hope that it will change itself. Which we aren’t seeing decades after decades…
Bobi Wine says: “Come back to yesterday, by 10:00am, regime officials started reaching out to our polling agents with money and telling them if they resisted, they would be arrested. Many indeed gave in and abandoned their stations. Only a few resisted and reported what was happening.
The regime does this to deliberately downplay our strength and to drive the narrative that the masses we attract do not necessarily translate into votes. Given that we’re heading towards the general election, they know this might have an effect on the psyche of the population, such that when they rig, they have recent by-elections to justify their theft!” (Bobi Wine, 15.11.2024).
We know these things are happening. The militarized zones and the usage of force by the authorities. The NUP and other parties knows this happens very well. That isn’t anything new and been modus operandi for years. Therefore, the opposition should reflect on how it works around it and guard the votes. How it can retaliate in a peaceful manner and be agents of change. Instead of letting them “win” in fear and in the possibility of retribution. Therefore, this is just a disregard of the will of the people and what they really want.
He continues: “Certainly, there are many places where NUP and the larger opposition need to do much more work in mobilising and awakening people, and Kisoro is one of them. It is clear that even without the kind of rigging they engaged in, the independent candidate would still have won. (But what is true also is that the NUP candidate would have gotten many more votes than those allocated to her.) This is in part because in Kisoro (and Oyam) there was another dynamic of a protest vote against the official NRM candidates. The would-be opposition voters chose to unite behind candidates they considered having the best chance against the NRM” (Bobi Wine, 15.11.2024).
This here is a mere fact, but its troubling for any opposition or party to do this. As the NRM and the authorities blocks the parties from engaging and building up structures. The state is interfering in internal party business and how it supposed to build party organizations. Therefore, they are tied and handicapped, which isn’t helping ahead of any polls. In addition to the rigorous activities during the polls and during the counting of it. Which is just a charade and make a mockery of the shindig.
Bobi Wine is even spelling out what I said after the polls. That in some races the Opposition should rally behind one candidate. Just to have a bigger shot at defeating the NRM. However, then you need to coordinate and have a willing of dialogue in a short span of time. Where the trust is built up between the parties and they are willing to forfeit candidature too. As it could be more humiliating if they fail to succeed. Regardless, in some instances it could be helpful. Especially, if the goal is to get the number of NRM MPs down in Parliament.
He continues: “Therefore friends, DO NOT BE DISCOURAGED. The struggle against dictatorship and misrule will involve many challenges before we get to victory. And yet we keep using all avenues including elections to awaken our people and push the message of freedom” (Bobi Wine, 15.11.2024).
Yes, the struggle lives on. Just like it did in the past. More of the same. Where people are doing the same and thinking they will get another result. Trying to configure the same system that is built to destroy the competition. Therefore, the way to victory over it isn’t to play as a part of it, but outwit it. However, that seems uncertain and as unknown terrain for plenty right now. Besigye have outlined the needs and the steps to do so. Nevertheless, those steps are forgotten and people aren’t reminded about those. That’s why we copy-and-paste. Meanwhile, the NRM lingers on and nothing changes. Peace.
