00:00Edward Cebufu alias Eddie Mutwe, the bodyguard of Uganda's opposition leader Bobby Wine,
00:05had been missing for five days.
00:07Then came a trace on social media platform X.
00:10General Muhosi Kanyrugaba, the country's military chief and son of longtime President Museveni,
00:15openly posted that he was keeping Cebufu in his basement and warned that he would torture him.
00:20What is being done by Museveni's son is a trajectory that is leading our country into a terrible, terrible place.
00:28Cebufu's lawyer confirmed that he had indeed been tortured.
00:32Meanwhile, Uganda's Human Rights Commission called for his immediate release.
00:36Despite Muhosi openly admitting to kidnapping and torture, he faces no legal consequences.
00:43Where are Uganda's courts and why is no one holding Muhosi accountable?
00:47The law does not work in Uganda. The ruling family is literally above the law.
00:51Welcome to the flip side.
00:52If these institutions are to rise up and do what they are supposed to do,
00:56then actually all these people can be held accountable.
01:00Well, that does not seem to apply to Muhosi, who is known for his provocative social media behavior.
01:05He once called for the execution of opposition figures Bobby Wine and Kizabi Sije.
01:10We do what we are ordered to do and do it well.
01:13He also threatened military action against neighboring Kenya, forcing his father to apologize.
01:18Regional lawyers are pushing for legal actions against Muhosi at the East African Court of Justice,
01:24citing violations of Ugandan law.
01:26Yet President Museveni continues to defend him, emphasizing his right to free expression.
01:32But is threatening torture practicing freedom of expression?
01:36The government has a way, in Uganda has a way, of making you think there is freedom when there is no freedom,
01:44of making you think you can say or express yourself when actually you cannot express yourself.
01:52So they try to create an equality that is not equal, a freedom that is not free.
01:58While Muhosi uses social media with impunity, Ugandans face severe limitations on free expression.
02:04However, they remain hopeful.
02:07In Uganda, we don't see a lot of independence in the institutions, for example, the judiciary, the electoral commission.
02:13But if we have independent institutions, we can be able to have fairer outcomes of the elections, for example.
02:21Now the entire essence is to uphold stronger systems that are way bigger than individuals.
02:26Now that comes in place when the law is non-discriminatory, when the law is equal, it applies equally, irrespective of status, irrespective of race, irrespective of gender.
02:36I don't see democracy happening in Uganda unless there is a total overhaul of the whole system, a democratic and peaceful transition of power.
02:48We are more than 45 million people. If we stand together, we can overcome this impunity.
02:53Recent legislation, such as the 2022 amendments to the Computer Misuse Act, imposes harsh penalties, including fines and imprisonment for broadly defined offenses like hate speech and unsolicited information,
03:07which are often used to silence critics and restrict online expression.
03:11We have laws virtually on anything here in this country, but how they are implemented.
03:19The implementation is selective and some people, it's possible for one to think that some of them are above the law.
03:29While General Muhosi wields social media as a platform for intimidation without any accountability,
03:35Ugandans have to navigate a fraught landscape of repression and censorship.
03:39Their last resort, the courts, remain loyal to the powerful, not to finding justice.
03:45But even with such conditions, civil society and the opposition keep pushing for Uganda, which abides by the law.
03:52And that is the flip side.
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