As a journalist - and security reporter - my work sometimes involves monitoring patterns of crime around the region and tracing their cause. Well a little more than a week back, I was analysing the South Sudan crisis and make no mistake, we bear all the marks of that country. A few days before the civil war begun, the ruling party - SPLM, led by the President Salva Kiir was in the process of endorsing reforms - seen by some in the party as unpopular. A deployment pattern of SPLA soldiers also showed an impending arrest of the former VP Salva Kiir. Long story short, guns went blazing, the reforms were rejected, the country split into war - then the war was tribalised and a year on, we are yet to see peace. Now back here, a deployment pattern - I have been privy to - shows not just an impending arrest but a string of operations to be carried out by security agencies. A ruling party is trying to force down reforms seen by some as unpopular, a section of members in the ruling party have tribalised the issues being put to debate and I kid you not, we are not 100% sure of our security agencies loyalty. They have participated before in the fleeing of Col Dr. Kiiza Besigye from the country when he was about to be arrested, they have helped Sejusa leave the country just 3 hours before his arrest, some members in the army have made it clear, that political space must be respected, it wont be long before we are in the dooms yard. I keep asking our commanders every time I see them, how safe are we as citizens from their machinery and political inclinations and the response has always been, there is no need to fear, the army will secure you. Well I am scared and rightly scared too.
Posted on: Sat, 13 Dec 2014 12:13:45 +0000