KAMPALA —Angry Ugandans have caused the Germany Embassy in Kampala to pull down congratulatory messages from hancellor Angela Merkel to President Yoweri Museveni from their social media pages.
Chancellor Merkel’s congratulatory remarks angered Ugandans who know the history of Germany, which once also suffered under brutal military dictatorship under the Hitler regime, which plunged the world into war while committing genocide at home.
This development comes ahead of Wednesday swearing in ceremony of Gen. Museveni whom some Ugandans believe was roundly defeated in the Jan. 14 Presidential election by Member of Parliament Robert Kyagulanyi, a.k.a Bobi Wine.
Bobi Wine accuses President Museveni of unleashing a regime of terror, kidnapping, torturing, and murdering Ugandans.
The terror spree has been covered by international media, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, the BBC, and Al Jazeera.
Social media users accused Chancellor Merkel of acting as if she was blind and deaf.
The German government’s social media posting had announced:
“Germany’s Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel and Uganda’s president Yoweri Kaguta Museveni have known each other for quite some time.
On the occasion of Mr. Museveni’s reelection as president in January 2021 and ahead of the swearing-in ceremony this week, Ms. Merkel has just conveyed her congratulations:
Dear Mr. President,
I would like to congratulate you on your reelection as president of the republic of Uganda. Your new term in office is an opportunity to continue advancing the democratic and economic development of your country and strengthening the rule of law in the interests of all Ugandans.
Germany remains a willing partner to your country as you continue down this path.
I wish you strength and a sure hand for the tasks that now lie ahead.
Yours sincerely,
Dr. Angela Merkel
Federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany.”
Ugandans would not have any of this go unchallenged.
Ugandan posted a response to Merkel’s twitter handle @amerkel57 with images of people reportedly beaten by military.
Immediately after it had been published, angry Ugandans released an avalanche of verbal attacks against Germany which forced the embassy handlers to post a warning that “Hello followers, we are getting a lot of criticism for this post. That’s ok, we respect and tolerate freedom of speech in Germany. but we don’t tolerate hate speech. Hate is not an opinion. We expect our users to use common courtesy in their comments. If you use offensive or threatening language, we will delete your comment and or block you from our page”.
They may have expected Ugandans to calm down but instead that warning communication fanned more criticism from all over and in the end, the congratulatory message was deleted in the night when everyone was sleeping.
Recently, Uganda was ranked worst when it comes to rule of law in the whole world.
In contrast to Merkel’s message, the U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on April 16, issued a statement rejecting the Jan. 14 elections by Gen. Museveni as “neither free, nor fair.” The U.S. has issued visa restrictions that many Ugandans hope includes to military chiefs believed to responsible for the disappearances and murders.
The U.S. has sealed the names of the Ugandan officials sanctioned.
In Kampala there is already heavy security deployment in preparation for tomorrow’s swearing in.
Gun-toting soldiers roam the streets while snipers have taken positions on rooftops of the tallest buildings in the central business district. Fighter jets have streaked across the skies.
