General Henry Tumukunde was on Thursday night arrested at his offices in Kololo after making a number of careless statements calling for violence against the state of Uganda leading to charges of treason and glorification of violence being placed on him by the police.
The retired general and now prospective Presidential candidate ahead of the 2021 general elections also made careless utterances calling on a foreign country in the mould of Rwanda to intervene in the political affairs of Uganda to cause change of government.
The fragile relationship between Uganda and Rwanda had recently stabilized following Quadripartite talks between the two nations and the leaders of Angola and DRC.
Therefore the careless statements from the learned general not only constituted a deliberate attempt to distort the progress of the talks but also a threat to the integrity of Uganda as a state moreover by previously serving military officer who served in many sensitive security positions throughout his career.
He must also have sensed an opportunity to grab undue headlines by vulgarizing such a sensitive topic. His time in the press won’t last longer than his pursuit of a presidential bid and an attempt at boosting his life sized ego.
For context, it would be unimaginable for a candidate in the United States Presidential election to call on Russian meddling in local affairs without tough repurcusion and prosecution.
The fact that Tumukunde believes that our government has to be changed using unconstitutional means shows that he has no good intentions for the country. It is also one of the reasons why other Opposition leaders like Bobi Wine have dismissed his bid as his character lacks integrity and cannot be trusted merely because he too seeks change.
This is not the first time Tumukunde has landed in trouble over loose talk as he was in 2015 reprimanded by the military court martial over similar comments he made in 2003 while serving in the army.
