Kampala is Burning... In the Dark

Since I've been in Uganda I have experienced many power outages and so far the most valuable thing I brought with me from Canada has proven to be a strong flashlight from MEC which converts into a small lamp. The power outages have mostly stopped at home but remain frequent during the day at work in down town Kampala. Generally they last about six hours, luckily we have a back up generator which covers our needs most of the time. Neighbouring businesses are not quite as lucky.

I am told that the cause of the power cuts is the recent privatization of the only electricity company here which has been selling electricity to Rwanda, not leaving enough from Uganda.

This morning on the way to work I noticed that the roads were a bit quieter than usual but didn't think much of it. When I arrived at work the power was still out after going out yesterday morning which is a lot longer than the standard six hour outages. Finally, when I reached my office my colleague anxiously asked me if I had seen the riots on the way to work. I was surprised as the roads had seemed to be so quiet. We looked out the window of our office to see people lining the streets, although not in large numbers. Farther down you could see that something (probably garbage) was burning and there were more people. But it was peaceful.

After watching for about 2 minutes all of a sudden the people who were lining the streets started running into store fronts. Tear gas. When I asked my colleague in disbelief why they would use tear gas when the protest was so peaceful (people weren't even chanting) she explained that they always used tear gas at protests and sometimes used pink water which she described as a skin irritant. Slowly people made their way back to the street. A few minutes later about ten police officers walked down the street who were jeered at by protesters, followed by a police truck (pick up truck with seats in the rear) with the police firing their guns into the air. Certainly an excessive display of force. The truck was then followed by an armoured vehicle with an automatic weapon perched on top. At this point the power had been restored. We waited. Nothing happened, and gradually the crowd started to disperse. There were not injuries in our area but its hard to know what happened farther down the street where there were more people gathered.

This demonstrates the dangers of having only one privatized electricity provider for a large city but it also highlights the government's crackdown on freedom of association. My colleague said there were also riots in May when the leader of the official opposition was arrested because he was considered to be a "security threat."

If you would like to read more about restrictions on the freedom of assembly in Uganda: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AFR59/016/2011/en

I initially posted this at 12:30 pm local time. At lunch as I was leaving the building to pick up a salad the power went out again. As I walked the block to where I buy salad I could see the riots starting again but I thought that I would be safe because I was inside. After receiving my salad there was a loud bang and then a distinct smell and then my throat started to burn. The building had been tear gassed. The lights then went out and we were left in the dark holding our noses. Fortunately the owner of the cafe walked me back to the office where I discovered a fire had been lit on the street immediately behind. I'm fine but my throat is really irritated.