VZCZCXRO4890
RR RUEHGI RUEHRN RUEHROV
DE RUEHKM #1055/01 2571157
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 141157Z SEP 09
FM AMEMBASSY KAMPALA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1766
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RUEHXR/RWANDA COLLECTIVE
RUEHKH/AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM 0817

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KAMPALA 001055 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINS UG
SUBJECT: UGANDA: DEATHS, DETENTIONS, AND DISTRUST AFTER KAMPALA 
RIOTING 
 
REF: A. KAMPALA 01046, B. KAMPALA 00946 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: Calm returned to Kampala on September 12 after the 
King of Buganda cancelled his trip to Kayunga district.  At least 21 
people were killed and over 100 wounded during the September 10-11 
riots (ref. A).  Negotiations between the government and the Buganda 
remain at an impasse, with President Museveni accusing Buganda of 
conniving with opposition parties and the Libyan government to 
undermine the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM). 
Authorities continue to close radio stations and arrest journalists. 
 End Summary. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
The Dead, the Wounded, and the Detained 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Rioting in Kampala subsided on September 12 after the King 
of Buganda postponed his visit to the disputed district of Kayunga 
(see reftel for background).  There was sporadic gunfire during the 
morning of September 12 on the outskirts of Kampala, as well as road 
closures and checkpoints near the city center amidst a heavy police 
presence.  Several police posts and dozens of vehicles were burnt 
during the riots.  One reportedly Asian-owned paint factory was also 
torched. 
 
¶3. (SBU)  On September 14, state media reported 21 dead and over 100 
injured (including 13 police officers) during two days of rioting. 
Some of those brought to Kampala's overflowing Mulago hospital, 
including a two year old child who was killed, were hit in their 
homes by stray bullets.  An independent newspaper, the Monitor, is 
asking citizens to report the names of those killed and wounded so 
the newspaper can compile a separate, unofficial tally. 
 
¶4. (SBU)  On September 12 Buganda Prime Minister John Baptist 
Walusimbi asked the Inspector General of Police, Kale Kayihura to 
"restrain his officers and men from indiscriminate shooting against 
unarmed civilians in order to cool the temperatures."  The NGO Human 
Rights Watch also accused Ugandan police of using excessive force, 
and we have received credible reports of security forces using 
batons, whips and rifles to disperse groups of innocent civilians 
caught at the wrong place at the wrong time. 
 
¶5. (SBU) An estimated 550 to 650 people were arrested during the 
riots.  Local media reports only 82 of these have been charged, 
meaning that the rest should either be charged today or released. 
Those arrested include one Member of Parliament, Issa Kikungwe, and 
one well known radio talk show host, Robert Kalundi Sserumaga (see 
para 12).  Kikungwe is an ethnic Baganda who belongs to the 
opposition Democratic Party (DP).  Police have accused him of 
inciting rioters. 
 
------------------------------------ 
Museveni-Buganda Tensions Still High 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶6. (SBU) Buganda officials insist the decision not to travel to 
Kayunga was based on internal assessments of the King's security and 
had nothing to do with government orders to cancel the visit. 
President Museveni had said he would allow the King to visit Kayunga 
under two conditions: the King receives written permission to travel 
from the leader of the Banyala, a small ethnic sub-group in the 
district; and he reins in what Museveni perceives as anti-government 
rhetoric emanating from the Buganda-owned Central Broadcasting (CBS) 
radio.  The government turned CBS off shortly after the riots began 
on September 10.  Buganda regards both of these conditions as 
non-starters. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Both the Buganda and the government have disavowed rumors 
that the King was under house arrest.  Museveni and the King 
reportedly spoke on the telephone on September 13.  A face to face 
meeting may occur later this week.  According to local press 
reports, President Museveni dispatched Maj. Roland Kakooza Mutale, 
an ethnic Baganda and key presidential adviser on political affairs, 
to meet with the Buganda King over the weekend.  Just two weeks ago, 
Mutale was accused of kidnapping, holding incommunicado, and 
torturing a civilian. 
 
-------------------- 
Museveni's Reasoning 
-------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) In a largely extemporaneous speech to ethnic Baganda NRM 
Members of Parliament on the evening of September 10 (state media 
later released a heavily edited version of the address), Museveni 
accused the King of "meddling in politics", while Uganda's 
constitution restricts the affairs of traditional leaders to 
"cultural" issues only.  Museveni listed the inflammatory rhetoric 
of the Buganda owned CBS radio station and Buganda's long-standing 
 
KAMPALA 00001055  002 OF 003 
 
 
opposition to proposed government land reform as reasons for 
clamping down on the Kingdom.  He accused the King of supporting 
tenants responsible for the recent lynching of a land owner in 
Kayunga. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Museveni said Buganda was working with opposition parties 
to undermine the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM). 
Information Minister and Chief NRM whip Daudi Migereko on September 
12 accused "certain elements" of "dragging cultural institutions 
into partisan politics in contravention of Article 246 of the 
Constitution."  Migereko singled out Uganda's three main opposition 
parties - DP, the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), and Uganda 
People's Congress (UPC) - as the main offenders. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Museveni also accused Libyan leader Muamar Qadhafi of 
trying to destabilize Uganda by funneling funds to the Baganda as 
payback for Museveni's opposition to Qadhafi's United States of 
Africa proposal.  Other commentators, including one columnist in the 
government-run New Vision newspaper, have suggested that by 
defending the tiny Banyala against the behemoth Buganda in Kayunga 
district, Museveni is encouraging other small minorities within the 
Buganda Kingdom to also assert their independence and further weaken 
the Kingdom. 
 
------------------------------------- 
Radio Closings and Journalist Arrests 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶11. (SBU) The government closed five radio stations on September 11 
- two CBS stations plus Suubi FM, Radio Sapientia, and Radio Two 
Akaboozi Kubiri - for violating Uganda's Electronic Media act.  At 
least two other stations - Radio Simba and WBS TV - have been warned 
to censor their reporting or risk closure. 
 
¶12. (SBU) On September 11, well known Radio One talk show host 
Robert Kalundi Sserumaga was abducted by unidentified assailants 
riding in an unmarked sedan as he left the WBS studio.  He was later 
dumped in front of a police station and arrested.  During a 
September 12 press conference, Sserumaga's wife, Sarah Nsigaye, 
appealed for her husband's release.  Noting that her grandfather had 
been bundled into a car and killed by Idi Amin's government in 1976, 
Nsigaye said "today it is my husband and I don't know what is going 
to happen." 
 
¶13. (SBU) Police spokesperson Judith Nabakooba later confirmed that 
Sserumaga was in police custody and said the Criminal Investigations 
Division (CID) was currently considering charging him with 
unspecified "media related offenses."  Inspector General of Police 
Kayihura said Sserumaga had committed "grave offences" during a WBS 
TV show.  WBS TV is under orders not to release a recording of the 
show to inquiring diplomatic missions or human rights organizations. 
 The government has reportedly threatened to shut WBS down 
completely if any copies of the recording are released. 
 
¶14. (SBU) The Uganda Broadcasting Council has also suspended WBS TV 
talk show host Peter Kibazo, and Radio Simba's morning show hosts 
James Senkubuge Siasa, Andrew Benon Kibuuka, and Gold Kimatono. 
Three journalists working for the Monitor newspaper also reported 
being beaten by security forces outside the gates to the Buganda 
palace on Mengo hill.  In the district of Kayunga, Moses Kibuuka of 
NTV and Yahaya Iga Muyingo of Voice of Africa, were detained by 
local authorities. 
 
¶15. (SBU) These events follow the arrests of several other 
journalists in August.  Police arrested three journalists working 
for the Monitor newspaper in early August - two of these arrests 
stemmed from the Monitor's publication of a letter by President 
Museveni over the Banyoro crisis (ref. B).  On August 18 police 
arrested and subsequently released on bail the three senior editors 
of the news magazine The Independent after they published a cartoon 
of Museveni reviewing a plan for rigging the 2011 presidential 
election. 
 
----------------------------------- 
Comment: An Avoidable Confrontation 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶16. (SBU) While calm has returned to Kampala, the underlying 
political conflict between President Museveni and the Buganda 
Kingdom is far from over.  The loss of life over the past few days 
is particularly unfortunate given that last week's confrontation was 
likely avoidable had there been greater goodwill and more open lines 
of communication on both sides of the conflict.  The subsequent 
crack down on journalists is equally disheartening.  For the moment, 
Museveni has won a tactical victory by forcing the King to back down 
over his planned visit to Kayunga.  Strategically, however, Museveni 
may have permanently alienated a constituency he has depended upon 
in the past to win elections and stay in power.  As one commentator 
last week noted, Museveni has managed to do in just 10 days what his 
 
KAMPALA 00001055  003 OF 003 
 
 
most formidable political opponent, Kizza Besigye, couldn't do in 10 
years: turn the Baganda against him.