KAMPALA – Ronald Ssempala, a political activist and a member of National Unity Platform – NUP, Uganda’s leading opposition political party who went missing after unknown gunmen broke into his house on October 4, 2020, has been found nursing wounds at Mulago National Referral Hospital.
Ssempala is one of the ‘tired’ youths who joined a musician-turned politician Robert Kyagulanyi alias Bobi Wine in a political movement the ‘People’s Power’ as a channel to influence change of government – citing constant government oppressions, corruption, unknown killings, and abuse of the constitution by the ruling Government.
On June 18, 2018, Ssempala started making flyers using donations from well-wishers and good friends in Uganda depicting the extent of corruption, injustice, and the undercover killing of innocent people in the country.
Distributed on streets of Kampala and other big cities like Jinja, Mbarara, Masaka, Gulu, and Mbale, this form of mobilization gained The Movement a lot of support from youths all over the country.
“We believed that the only way to put an end to the injustice was by getting a new government in power other than the National Resistance Movement (NRM) that has been in power for over 4 decades as the party leader till I date,” he said.
However, this almost costed him his life after receiving different warnings from who he says were “the leaders of the government/ruling party” asking him to stop his mobilization activities.
“They started sending threats to me demanding that I denounce my party and stop all the mobilization activities I was engaging in on its behalf else I would be in serious trouble. I ignored the threats and remained focused. I continued with my mobilization campaigns as it was almost time for the Elections.”
In the wee hours of October 04, 2020, he explains that two armed men came to his home and broke into after knocking several times but failed to reveal their identity upon his request.
He says his efforts to call for police rescue were futile after getting no response.
“I was picked from my house at plot 44, Zana Entebbe Road half naked and pushed into a tinted caravan car. They drove for over 60 miles to an unknown destination. A man dressed in a military uniform asked for my name and said to his colleagues, “This is the right guy we have been looking for all along” he narrated.
“Another solider came to where I was seated with a bucket of very cold water almost frozen and poured it on me, he also got an electric black cable and started hitting me with it, he told me to stop all forms of political activism in my home District and the neighboring Mpigi District. I was bleeding a lot from my back, knees, and hands were covered in blood. I lost a lot of blood from the bleeding and became unconscious. The next day, I woke up and found myself at Mulago National Referral Hospital.”
The political contest ahead of the January 2021 general election was preceded by reports of covert security operations in which scores of people from different parts of the country went missing after they were reportedly abducted by armed groups driving in numberless vehicles.
President Yoweri Museveni said the arrests were carried out by military commandos who were going after elements he called terrorists planning anarchy in the country.
A number of victims who have since returned home, described their detention as a nightmare crafted in both physical and emotional torture.
