No situation is permanent: Ofwono Opondo sends cryptic message to Muhoozi

Former government spokesman and Elderly MP Ofwono Opondo has sounded a warning to leaders and in high offices in Uganda to exercise restraint and remember that "no situation is permanent." 

Opondo expressed concern over such leaders who are bent on sending Uganda to the "abhorrent and discredited era of Idi Amin and Milton Obote” by misusing their authority

His message has been interpreted by observers as directed at Chief of Defence Forces Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba and other state officials working under him.

Writing in a recent opinion piece, Opondo criticised the reported treatment of detainees, saying there was no justification for stripping suspects naked, photographing them and exposing them to public humiliation.

Without naming Gen Kainerugaba directly, Opondo cautioned those in positions of authority against abusing state power.

"And surely those using, or rather misusing, their positions of state to be compared with the abhorrent and discredited era of Idi Amin Dada and Milton Obote ought to know that no situation is permanent, and let them not plead in the future that they were not foretold." he wrote.

Opondo also condemned the alleged stripping of detainees, saying such conduct had no place in a democratic state.

"There is no reason for stripping a man naked, showing his nudes to the public and bragging about it while purporting to use the authority of a democratic state. Uganda shouldn't be a jungle, and we collectively have a duty to raise the real flag of liberation."

His comments come after former Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago and human rights activist Ninye Tabz alleged that they were stripped naked and photographed by security operatives while in detention.

Lukwago made the allegations after appearing before the Makindye Chief Magistrate's Court on charges of misprision of treason. 

Ninye Tabz made similar claims after he was released on police bond following days in detention.

Opondo however, reassured Ugandans that none of the recent arrests and detentions are indicative of collapse of the nation stating, “Lukwago, Besigye and others in similar situations are not the valid proof that NRM and indeed Uganda have come to the end of times, although they find themselves at the confluence of the revolution where each man must pay their due share," Opondo wrote.