LEAD PHOTO: Ms. Tatra Mary attended NUP gathering in Boston, MA, recently. She was dressed in a tshirt with Bobi Wine’s portrait having words, ‘Mr. President’. This puts her in NRM government’s bad books.
STORY BY:
SHARON ASIO
Senior Investigator
RENOWNED Human Rights defender and Political Activist Tatra Mary Musheshe finds herself in the crosshairs of Uganda’s political landscape, her family reveals.
Fleeing the country in 2013 amidst escalating threats, Tatra’s advocacy for change alongside opposition leaders from Dr. Kizza Besigye’s Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) and National Unity Platform (NUP) has incurred the wrath of the ruling NRM government.
STOP HARASSING OUR SUPPORTERS: Bobi Wine warns government
Central to the regime’s ire is Tatra’s collaboration with NUP Vice President Dr. Lina Zedriga Waru and the opposition leader in Uganda, Hon. Robert Ssentamu Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine. According to intelligence briefing, Ms. Tatra is one of the leading Bobi Wine’s trusted NUP Mobilizers in Diaspora. State operatives believes she is behind mobilising Diaspora with the backing of LGBT + Q to give the regime sleepless nights.
PHOTO: President Museveni accused opposition of being supported by foreigners and LGBT+Q to distablize his government. He threated to deal with them. He was officially opening Bukedea Teaching Hospital and Bukedea College of Health Sciences both established by the Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Anita Annet Among. NUP is higlighted for being Pro LGBT+Q
Her concerted efforts to challenge the status quo has placed Tatra and her family under constant surveillance and intimidation by state operatives.
Government officials, including the National Resistance Movement (NRM) chairman Haji Abudallah Kitatta and Mr. Kamuntu Majambere commonly known as ‘Empologoma ya Museveni (President Museveni’s Lion) have issued veiled threats against Tatra and her allies, vowing to quash dissent and maintain the current political order at any cost.
Appearing on Dream televion, a Christian based tv station in Uganda owned by Pastor Dr. Joseph Serwadda of Victory Christian Centre Church in Uganda, Kitatta and Majembere warned Tatra and whoever is challenging the NRM regime that their days are counted, they will be arreted and pay for their sins.
PHOTO ABOVE: When Majambere (Museveni’s lion) appeared on Dream tv and sent a tough warning message to Ms. Tatra on supporting Bobi Wine to challenge NRM regime.
Opposition in Uganda says, such rhetoric underscores the precarious position faced bķy individuals daring to speak out against entrenched power structures.
Recently, Leader of opposition in Parliament of Uganda tasked Prime minister Nabbanja to tell public the whereabout of opposition leaders and hundreds of their supporters accusing the State of persecuting oposition politicians.
ABOVE: Leader of Opposition in Parliament Rt. Hon. Joel Ssenyonyi gave Prime minister Robinah Nabbanja had time on mising Ugandans like Tatra Mary who allegedly fled the country over opposing the ruling NRM government
Despite the risks, Tatra like many other opposition politicians, remains undeterred, leveraging her legal background and activism to mobilize support for regime change.
She continues to advocate for change in the diaspora through the Intellectual Property Rights Initiative (IPRI-Africa) an IP and Human Rights Advocacy organization she formed while in Uganda.
Her association with IPRI-Africa underscores her commitment to holding the regime accountable for human rights abuses and political repression.
No wonder, Tatra and political activist for Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) Preacher Doreen Nyanjura the current Deputy Lord Mayor of Kampala City linked again in 2022 in Boston, Massachusetts for the purpose of mobilization and advocating for change of the NRM government.
ABOVE; In 2022, Ms. Tatra (middle) was cited with ‘The FDC Preacher’ Deputy Lord Mayor of Kampala City Doreen Nyanjura (right). The two linked up again in Boston, Massachusetts USA for a strategic meeting. Left is Samuel Kiberu.
However, Tatra’s activism has come at a great personal cost. A colleague she advocated for change with through the FDC party, lawyer Nasser Mubonde, recounts a harrowing acid attack in 2014, a chilling reminder of the dangers inherent in challenging authority. His ordeal serves as a stark warning of the lengths to which the state will go to silence dissent.
HEARTTLESS! FDC Lawyer Nasser Mubonde who was attacked with acid a few days after Tatra had fled the country. The two were very close
PHOTO: NUP women protest over the continued arrest of their own Olivia Lutaaya.
As Tatra’s whereabouts remain shrouded in secrecy, the specter of state reprisal looms large. Will she evade capture and continue her advocacy from abroad, or will the long arm of the law reach her? The answers remain uncertain, but one thing is clear: the struggle for change in Uganda is far from over. Let’s watch the space!
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