By The Kenyan DAILY POST
KAMPALA, UGANDA (RTN)-MY recent trip to Lome,
the capital of the West African country, Togo, was memorable for my encounter
with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, in the bog.
The smell of the fresh waters from the South Atlantic Ocean and the serene surroundings of dancing palm trees were nothing short of breathtaking.
I made sure
to take in everything I was seeing during my stay at the Sarakawa Hotel where I
would be lodged for four nights from January 16 to 20.
I had gone to Togo for the landmark two-day summit on counterfeit drugs set for
January 17 and 18, which saw seven western African nations sign an agreement to
combat the sale of fake medicines in their respective countries. These were
Niger, Gambia, Senegal, Ghana, Uganda, Congo-Brazzaville, and the host nation
of Togo.
So big was
the initiative that Museveni, President Macky Sall (Senegal) and Faure
Gnassingbé (Togo) were in attendance.
Such high level
presidential presence attracts tight security. So much such that a radius of
about a kilometre around the hotel where the summit was taking place was
cordoned off. Inside the hotel, it was no different as it was bustling with
security.
Arriving for the signing
of the agreement, I had to disembark from the bus I was on and get another some
few hundred metres away from the hotel. From there, we stopped at the gate of
the hotel and walked the rest of the way through vigorous security checks.
Following
these checks, we entered the hotel were the ushers and security quickly showed
us into the main conference room where we sat and waited for the arrival of the
heads of State. It was only after an hour that they arrived and the summit
officially kicked off.
Some time
into the summit, a few minutes after Gnassingbé gave his opening remarks, I
left the conference room to use ablution facilities. The gentlemen’s rest room
was about 20 metres away. Upon entering it, I headed for one of the urinals to
relieve myself.
But, moments later,
three burly security agents burst into the facility, quickly checked all the
cubicles before one of them rushed back outside and later returned with more
security aides accompanying President Museveni.
At that
point, while I was watching all the drama unfold with fascination, a towering,
dark figure with the build of a wrestler tore off from the group and walked
briskly towards me.
The security
agent told me to leave, pee or no pee. His terrifying appearance brooked no
nonsense.
I could not
protest although I was not done with my business yet. So, I quickly complied,
zipped my trousers and rushed out of the facility. On my way out, I noticed
Museveni entering one of the cubicles, seemingly pressed as well, while the
rest of the security team remained outside, alert and ready.
The ushers
directed me to another facility up a flight of stairs to finish off my business.
As soon as I sat down, Museveni zoomed by heading back to the high table. In my mind I thought “so this is what power feels like”, no wonder he has a tight grip on it.
As soon as I sat down, Museveni zoomed by heading back to the high table. In my mind I thought “so this is what power feels like”, no wonder he has a tight grip on it.
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