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Musician and producer arrested, charged after asking President Museveni to resign

Lawyer for David Mugema and music producer, John Muwanguzi, Abdallah Kiwanuka said his clients were accused of having composed and disseminated via the internet titled “Wumula”, meaning “retire”.

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Africanspotlight.com reported that the controversial song’s lyrics say, “You must retire now.”

It further asks, “Those who refused to go peacefully, where are they?”

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The musician continued by asserting that “The doctors are striking over poor pay, the government says there is no money, but government never fails to get money to buy teargas.”

The Ugandan prosecutors claim the song in question “attacked and disturbed the peace” of the 73-year-old president.

Eventhough there was no mention of President Museveni in the song, it became a matter of controversy because his government had introduced a bill in the country’s parliament in September, seeking to remove the limit on presidential terms, a move some analysts believe was a desperate attempt by Museveni who has bee in power since 1986 to contest the country’s 2021 elections again.

The Ugandan constitution in its current form disallows persons above 75 years running for the presidency.

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Admittedly, in the controversial song’s video, pictures of the president alongside ousted leaders including Saddam Hussein of Iraq and Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe were used, which by implication was sending a message to the veteran president.

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