Appeal for calm in Uganda
2009-09-12 14:20
Kampala - Security forces patrolled the streets of Kampala on Saturday as the traditional Buganda kingdom at the centre of two days of deadly riots sought to calm the situation.
At least 11 people were killed in the violent protests that erupted on Thursday and Friday in the Ugandan capital, the chief of its main National Referral Hospital told AFP.
Five died on Thursday, and six on Friday, when police clashed with supporters of Ronald Muwenda Mutebi, the kabaka or traditional ruler of the Baganda tribe, said acting hospital director Iga Matovu.
An earlier police toll put the number of dead at five.
Some were killed by bullets and others appeared to have been "been hit by demonstrators," the doctor said, adding that more than 30 people were admitted to the hospital on Friday with serious injuries.
"Twelve are still in critical condition, but we hope they will be out of danger because our staff are working round the clock to save the situation," said Matovu, while warning that the death toll could yet grow higher.
By Saturday an uneasy calm had returned to Kampala where a strong military presence could still be felt.
Street patrols ongoing
Most police and military barricades had been lifted, but the security forces were still patrolling the streets, either on foot or aboard vehicles.
Some shops and markets reopened, residents said, but business was very slow with few people out shopping.
A statement from the Kingdom of Buganda - which represents the majority ethnic group in central Uganda - meanwhile announced that an event that its politically influentual leader was to attend Saturday has been called off.
The kabaka had been expected at a Baganda youth day celebration in an area where a minority ethnic group, the Banyala, is seeking to break away from the kabaka's rule.
The Uganda government had sought to prevent the kabaka from attending, saying it feared bloodshed if he did so.
The Kingdom of Buganda, for its part, has accused President Yoweri Museveni of inciting the Banyala people to turn against it.
"The security and dignity of our beloved kabaka is our topmost priority and the present tense situation is not conducive for his travel to Bugerere or his attendance at the event there," it said in a statement.
"Further, the lives unnecessarily lost over the last two days have made celebrations impossible..."
"Therefore... the Buganda Youth Day celebrations have been postponed indefinitely," it said, urging the people of Buganda "to remain calm and law abiding".
Arrests made
Kampala on Thursday was the scene of running battles between protestors - angry at the government stopping the kabaka's advance party from visiting the venue of Saturday's event - and police firing tear gas and live ammunition.
Friday saw more sporadic trouble on the outskirts of the capital, with protestors lighting bonfires and setting up barricades.
Police spokesperson Judith Nabakooba said 65 people were arrested in connection with the Kampala riots. She added: "We hope that once screening is completed, we will take some to court."
Human Rights Watch accused the police of using "unnecessary lethal force".
"Violence during protests may require that the police use force, but it must be proportionate," said Georgette Gagnon, the US rights group's Africa director. "Here it appears that the police use of live ammunition prompted an escalation in bloodshed."
- SAPA