On Thursday, May 9, two things happened that the architects of what is commonly known as the defiance approach to our politics are keenly interested in.

First, it was the day a special session of the National Security Council (NSC) was to be held to, in the wording of the notice that Internal Affairs Minister Gen Jeje Odongo sent out to the members, to “specifically discuss the subject of defiance”.

The NSC, chaired by Gen Odong, brings together the ministers of Defence, Security, and Internal Affairs. It also has the Chief of Defence Forces, Inspector General of Police, Commissioner General of Prisons, Director General of the Internal Security Organisation (ISO), Director General of the External Security Organisation (ESO), and the Chief of Military Intelligence. It meets periodically to discuss matters of a security nature.

Dr Kizza Besigye, the architect of the defiance campaign against President Museveni’s government, was interested in the development to the extent that he accessed a copy of the official notice issued by Gen Odongo and shared it on his Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Dr Besigye captioned his posts thus: “Urgent SPECIAL Session of National Security Council (NSC) to sit today to particularly discuss the subject of defiance! Happily, there’s no remedy; it’s TIME UP!”

On the same day, May 9, perhaps as the NSC was meeting, a group that calls itself Kampala Metropolitan Informal Sector Business Forum, wrote to Inspector General of Police Martins Okoth-Ochola, asking him to stop demonstrations in the busy areas of Kampala City and the metropolitan area.

The letter was signed by Hajj Yasin Ssematimba as chairman, and Mr Adams Kakuba as secretary. It was copied to the ministers for Kampala (Ms Beti Kamya), Internal Affairs (Gen Odongo), Trade Commerce and Industry (Ms Amelia Kyambadde), and the Attorney General (Mr William Byaruhanga).

Details here https://bit.ly/2JfAcz2