Ugandan Writer Vincent Nzaramba: “Every dictator fears the concept of peaceful revolution. ”

Ugandan Writer Vincent Nzaramba. Photo: In2Africa.net

Five days after being arrested by Uganda’s anti-terrorism Rapid Response Unit (RRU), writer Vincent Nzaramba was freed from his cell in Kampala, Uganda. When Nzaramba was taken into custody, police confiscated over 200 copies of his unreleased book People Power: Battle the Mighty General, which is partially available online.

The book, which Nzaramba says is inspired by Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi, explores the history of peaceful revolutions and expresses Nzaramba’s disappointment in President Yoweri Museveni, who has ruled the country for twenty-five years and become increasingly reliant on military force.

In the past twelve months two other Ugandan authors have been persecuted for criticizing Museveni: Dr. Olive Kobusingye for her book The Correct Line?: Uganda Under Museveni and Charles Ochen Okwir for his book Portrait of a Despot.

Currently Nzaramba, who claims he is still a member of Uganda’s ruling party, the National Resistance Movement, is on police bail and faces charges of inciting violence. In his first interview since his release, Nzaramba responded to his charge of incitement: “It is not incitement. I am guiding the nation. I was warning that if we do not pass through constitutional means of changing power, then [Museveni] is finished.”

Read about poet Jade Amoli-Jackson’s escape from Uganda on Sampsonia Way.