All Quiet in Gulu Town

Apologies for the lapse in posts, throughout April I was distracted with minor excursions, graduate school decision making and transitioning to living at the compound on my own.  More recently, I am navigating increased power outages and decreasing internet availability. Decision deadlines have passed and I moved through the initial bliss of living alone for the first time- so hopefully that means I will make the time to post a little more often.

Rousing me from my hiatus is that the demonstrations in Kampala, the capital, made their way into US papers over the last couple of weeks. I thought I might provide my limited perceptions of the current events.

Since I have arrived in Uganda food and gas prices have been pretty steadily creeping upwards. A few political opposition leaders have rallied enough support to hold demonstrations in the capital and a spattering of other cities across the country. The protests against the high cost of living and potential increases in school fees began about a month ago. At the center of the movement has been Kizza Besigye, recent runner up to President Museveni in February’s elections, who is calling on the nation to “Walk to Work” in solidarity with those who can no longer afford fuel.

Besigye also protested the results of the presidential election back in March. He had plenty of company in accusing Museveni and the National Resistance Movement Party’s 68% victory of being laced with voter fraud, coercion, and intimidation. This year’s elections were reported the most expensive in the country’s history, using Ugandan Government money (30% of which is donor funded), to outspend the opposition 50 to1. The police and military were also out in full force, reminding the voters of less stable times.

Back in February, I inquired of many of ladies, and a few boda drivers, their thoughts on the election.  A couple of the younger responders voiced that Museveni has had his time in power and they planned to vote for opposition candidates, a predicted sentiment for the younger voters. However, the older the individual the more likely they were to endorse the incumbent. Older Ugandans have experienced war for the majority of their lives; many are willing to endure Museveni’s faults in exchange for maintaining the current peace and development that has come under his rule. Weariness of war is especially true for those here in the north. The Acholi people have historically been both targeted as victims and manipulated as tools for war. Most recently, peace lagged behind in this region because of atrocities committed by Joseph Kony and the Lord’s Resistance Army. The damage inflicted by the LRA, is also the reason there are now so many NGO’s here in Gulu, (if you are interested in an overview of this conflict check out Invisible Children).


Although I received a mix of responses, few denied that Museveni would likely be reelected. A common perception is that Museveni was going to do whatever it took to continue his 25 year rule. A friend lamented that “Museveni will not leave freely, he will die in power.” A few dejectedly confessed they would probably vote for him or not vote at all, doubting that their vote would matter. Enveloped in that lack of confidence, many rural people were willing to give their vote to whichever candidate came through their village offering a bag of salt or a t-shirt.   

The current demonstrations started as only a few hundred in Kampala walking to work. The police used tear gas and fired rubber bullets in the air to disperse the protesters. The gatherings appear to begin peacefully, but as the police come in to suppress the demonstrations with force, rocks are thrown, tires are burned, and streets are blocked off.  Over the course of the demonstrations Besigye has been shot in the arm by a rubber bullet, pulled from his vehicle and sprayed in the eyes at close range with pepper spray (for which he evacuated to Kenya for medical treatment), and jailed several times.

It is hard to gauge the effect the unrest in North Arica has here. I doubt that there would be the present energy behind the protests were it not for the events happening in the rest of the world. It is also doubtful that Museveni would be coming down as weightily were it not for those events. It is my guess that without the severe reaction by the authorities,  the protests would have disappointed by now.  However, fueled by the repression of the demonstrators, the movement has grown to include numbers in the thousands. At this time it been reported that a dozen people have died, a few hundred have been injured, and many more incarcerated. Last week hundreds of lawyers in Kampala committed to a three day strike to highlight what they consider to be illegal use of force to suppress the unarmed civilians. This week police used a water cannon to douse demonstrators with a Pepto Bismol hued liquid. We had our own cannon on standby here in Gulu but there have not been protests here since the first week (I stayed in the compound and everything was fine). 

At first Museveni declared that he will squash all protests, but with international pressure has agreed to hold meetings with movement leaders. Some opposition parties have agreed to sit down with the President should certain conditions be met, including an apology to Besigye and the firing of the current Police Inspector General. Other parties, including Besigye’s, are refusing to meet directly with Museveni altogether, citing that nothing will come of it aside from a photo op.

Museveni maintains that Besigye’s one true goal is to provoke unrest in reaction to losing February’s election, (Besigye did call for an uprising if the elections were deemed unfair). One of the President’s first intentions, after he was sworn into office again on Thursday, is to pass a new law denying bail for six months to anyone arrested during protests. 

As mentioned, it has been calm here in Gulu. Aside from increased power outages on scheduled march days, more military hanging about and threats of banning facebook, life has gone on pretty much the same.

On a slightly more upbeat note: today is World Fair Trade Day, OMT has a sale you can check out!