Lessons from protests seeking release of Besigye

Convened to demand the release of Dr Kizza Besigye and all Ugandans unlawfully detained for holding a political conscience, Monday’s protests in Nairobi were extraordinary.

Rather than being faced with the menu of teargas, assault, and arrest, the National Police Service facilitated protesters to peacefully petition the National Assembly and the High Commission of Uganda. Are we seeing a change in protest policing? 

Since the 2021 Uganda General Election, the right to free expression, association and assembly continues to deteriorate at an alarming rate.

Despite credible reports documenting extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances, arbitrary arrests, detention and torture of political opponents, restrictions on civil society organisations and the media, government reluctance to prosecute security service officers has led to widespread impunity. 

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With Dr Besigye’s health worsening last week, the patience of 12 Kenyan, Tanzanian and Ugandan civic organisations, national associations of doctors and lawyers and 15 citizens snapped.

On Monday February 24th, the signatories presented two separate petitions to both houses of Parliament and the Uganda High Commission to Kenya. The first petition calls on Senate and National Assembly committees responsible for human rights and foreign relations to investigate the recent cases of abductions and renditions as crimes under international law, summon our security services and call for prosecution of all involved. 

The second petition condemns the militarisation of Ugandan judiciary, calls for immediate release and protection of Dr Kizza Besigye, Hajj Obeid Lutale and their advocate Eron Kiiza, review of all cases of civilians being tried in military courts and investigation into Defence Forces Chief and President Museveni’s son Muhoozi Kainerugaba’s death threats against Besigye.

While Kenyans wait to see responses to these two petitions, important lessons can be drawn from Monday’s public protest. After directly observing no less than 20 protests over 2024, public protests had become orgies of violence.

Triggered by police refusal to accept notices or pre-emptive arrests of organisers, police and protesters have seemed at cross-purposes and mutually suspicious rather than collectively guided by Article 37. 

Too few officers display emotional awareness, active listening and conflict management skills while policing protests. When confronted by large numbers of angry but peaceful protesters, the possibility of violence is escalated rather than defused. The violent are not isolated and contained.

The authority of the protest leaders and marshals is not reinforced but undermined. Even emergency workers, journalists and bystanders became targets and victims. Senior command and the Interior Ministry have been disinterested in reaching out to “serial protesters” or learning new ways of keeping all safe while some exercise their right to express themselves. 

The behaviour of Kenyan police this week sharply contrasted from a long season of violent protest policing and must be commended.

Following notification on Friday, commanders established early contact with the protest organisers and escorted the protest marchers to both locations three days later.

Rather than a day of cat and mouse games, indiscriminate teargassing, assaults and crowded police holding cells, petitions were peacefully read within 90 minutes of the march without a single violent incident. 

Kudos to Senator Dan Mwanzo and MP Yusuf Hassan who addressed and then escorted protesters to register their petitions. Regrettably, the Uganda High Commission hid behind the Vienna Convention and closed for the day rather than receive the two-page letter. 

Perhaps Monday’s operation could be a case study for Kiganjo police training college. Perhaps also, the Uganda Police Service and the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces could benchmark how the universal right to free expression and assembly can be facilitated for their own citizens.