The National Unity Platform (NUP) has asked the government to unconditionally release all political prisoners.
Robert Kyagulanyi, NUP party president, said this on December 3, 2024, while addressing the press during the International Disabled Day celebrations held at the party headquarters in Makerere, Kavule.
“The International Disabled Day has become part of our lives, for us who are in and out of prison. As we speak, many of our people are in prison. They equally deserve their freedom; we continue to demand their unconditional release because they are innocent,” Kyagulanyi said.
On November 22, 2024, 19 NUP supporters who were convicted of treachery and unlawful possession of ammunition under the Uganda People’s Defence Forces Act and the Firearms Act were pardoned by President Yoweri Museveni.
However, nine other members of the party are still on remand while eleven others were granted bail.
Kyagulanyi said that many members of their party have been tortured in prisons, and some of them have lost some parts of their bodies, thus becoming disabled.
“So when we are designing programs for the disabled, we should also know that anytime we may become disabled,” he added.
The NUP president called upon parents with disabled children to stop hiding them in their houses.
“Some of them tie them with ropes; this is very bad. They are part of us, and they should not be isolated,” Kyagulanyi said.
He said that during their leadership, the government will issue no building with a completion certificate when it has no facilities for disabled people.
“This is what is happening in the developed countries; you can even be sued in court. That’s how we shall be helping our sisters and brothers,” he said.
