Makerere University Academic Staff Association (MUASA) has expressed worry over threats on the life of one of its members Dr. Jimmy Spire Ssentongo.
Spire said on Tuesday that he had received information of an attempt to kidnap him and he went silent thereafter. His phones are said to have gone off since then.
MUASA said in a statement on Wednesday that it takes the threats on Dr. Spire’s life seriously cognizant of recent reports of detention of people.
“We take these threats very seriously, cognizant of recent reports of detention of people incommunicado; the murder of Lwomwa Daniel Bbosa; the attempted assassination of General Katumba Wamala and murder of his daughter; and Dr. Ssentongo’s advocacy against corruption in the course of his work as a Senior Lecturer at Makerere University and as a public intellectual.”
The association further said any attack on Spire’s academic freedom is an attack on the academic freedom of all its members and other academics in the world.
“Any attack on Dr. Ssentongo’s academic freedom is an attack on the academic freedom of all the members of MUASA and other academics in the world,” the statement reads in part.
MUASA continued to demand that the inspector general of police ensures that Dr. Spire is protected from any threats to his life and work.
“Therefore, MUASA demands that the Inspector General of Police, Chairperson of the Joint Forces Command of Uganda, and other relevant local, national, regional and international agencies take immediate and concrete steps to afford Dr. Ssentongo the protection he requires from any threats to his life and work,”the statement further reads.
The fresh threats on Spire’s life follow the Uganda Parliament Exhibition that he has been spearheading in the past weeks. The exhibition has exposed high corruption and misuse of authority in parliament.
In his last post on X before going silent, Spire said his death would be unfortunate to those who care about him and what he does.
He said: “Of course my death would be unfortunate to those who care about me and what I do, but I won’t be there to feel it. There are only two possibilities for all of us: You are either alive or dead…”
