A group of traders under their umbrella body, the Kampala Arcaders Advocacy Forum(KAAF) have warned against protests during President Museveni’s swearing-in ceremony set for next week.
Museveni will on May,12 be sworn in for a sixth term at a function to be held at the Kololo independence grounds but security has warned that there is a group of politicians planning to frustrate the ceremony by organizing protests in various parts of the city.
However, in a statement released on Saturday, the KAAF chairman, Hussein Kato said their businesses having been badly hit by the lockdown and its effects like the lockdown, any form of protest would further worsen matters.
“We are greatly concerned that the planned protests may destroy our recuperating businesses,” Kato said.
He noted that previous protests have seen a lot of property destroyed and lives lost, adding that the re-occurrence of the same would be suicidal.
“We the innocent traders are always the target by the protesters who always loot, burn and harm business owners and customers as well. We wouldn’t wish for the same to happen. We suggest that those aggrieved should find other ways of solving the matter other than protests which might turn out to be deadly.”
Recently, the police spokesperson, Fred Enanga said security is monitoring the activities of some groups that are planning to cause chaos during the swearing-in ceremony.
“There are no specific threats directed towards the swearing-in ceremony although we anticipate disruptive activities by disgruntled politicians and supporters whom we anticipate will want to disrupt the process through demonstrations and use of petrol bombs. Our joint intelligence team is anticipating many other disruptive activities like burning tyres, blocking roads, and holding demonstrations but we are on top of this game,”Enanga told journalists last week.
