Murder as order 11 December, 2020 - 21:20
The Ugandan government quells public unrest with violence. What won t it do in the name of security ? Two soldiers from the 1st Division of the Uganda National Resistance Army. Public domain image.
Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni justified the killings of over 60 plus civilians by security forces during the protests in support of Bobi Wine, who was detained while campaigning in late November. Despite the extremity of these actions, a bid to prevent both COVID-19 and “anarchy” have been cited as reasons for the severe heavy handedness of the police. But, as this article argues, this militaristic response to establishing “security” is not just a feature of the present, and emerges from a long history in Uganda of enacting “murder as order.”