PHOTO: Busujju MP Hon. Lukyamuzi Kalwanga (left) in a van with other NUP leaders being taken to court
NEWS EDITOR
HOURS to the by election of Kayunga district LCV Chairperson last week, four NUP opposition members of Parliament were arrested, thrown into a waiting Drone van and driven out of Kayunga.
Of these, three were detained at Naggalama Police Station in Mukono district until elections were done and court released them on bail.
We have talked to these Members of Parliament to give an account of what caused their arrest and blocked from fulfilling a party assignment to coordinate, protect and oversee the election of NUP Party candidate Harriet Nakweede whose victory later, was allegedly rigged.
A day after he was released, Busujju County Member of Parliament Hon. Lukyamuzi David Kalwanga (LDK) who doubles as NUP’s 2nd in command in Greater Mubende talked to this News Website in an exclusive interview about how, when and why was he arrested instead of being in Kayunga to coordinate their party candidate’s election.
In this first serie, we bring the shocking story about how Hon. Kalwanga was arrested in Kayunga and then detained in Mukono at Naggalama police station;
HON. KALWANGA: HOW I WAS ARRESTED IN KAYUNGA & DETAINED IN MUKONO
Together with my driver and two journalists who requested for a drive, I set off from Kampala to Kayunga district on election day eve.
I was deployed by the Party Secretariat to join go and coordinate our candidate’s election.
For starters, I deputies Hon. Colleague Patrick Nsamba Oshabe the Kassanda North MP, in coordinating Greater Mubende. Hon. Nsamba was in Arusha for Inter-parliamentary games. During such by-elections, coordinators in political parties join candidates to coordinate final touches in order to secure their victory. So it’s on this ground that the NUP Party deployed me to Kayunga district, an assignment I was ready to fulfill.
From Kampala, we reached Kayunga at around 8pm on Wednesday night and started looking for a hotel to get accommodation only to be told that all hotels were allegedly booked by security personnels.
I there and then called my colleague Hon. Patrick Nsanja who is the MP for Ntenjeru South, Kayunga district and on informing him how I had failed to get a hotel, he asked me to drive straight to his home. He in fact sent someone to pick us.
However, on the way to Nazigo where MP Nsanja’s residence is located, I came across a road block and i was stopped. By then it was about 8:30pm. I was ordered to introduced my self, which I did and other occupants did the same. I presented by Parliament ID so to the journalists.
Shockingly, the officers at the road block confiscated by Parliament Identity Card, took my photos and i saw them forwarding the photos to some people I didn’t not know and for what reasons, I couldn’t tell.
As soon as they forwarded my photos, the person who received them gave orders to the officers on road block to arrest me.
The officers ordered us to park at the roadside, deliberately delaying us for almost 1 and half hours until I asked them whether I was under arrest. They said yes.
I asked why, because at the same road block, other cars were stopped and some of the occupants were coming from far district of Bukomansimbi to work as agents for the NRM candidates. On showing their tags and Identity cards, they were even given escorts to enter Kayunga peacefully.
At around 10pm, some police officers jumped into my car and ordered my driver to start the engine and drive to Nazigo police station.
At Nazigo Police Station, I was ordered to get out of my car, together with the people I had went with to Kayunga (My driver, two journalists and a gentleman who was sent by Hon. Nsanja).
We were thrown into a waiting Drone van which drove us to Naggalama Police Station. Inside the Drone, we were beaten, tortured and assaulted by security guys for supporting NUP Candidate Nakweede. Some of those tortured might have got fractures. We spent the whole Thursday (election day) in dentation and the bigger part of Friday.
While at Naggalama, in the night of Wednesday, other NUP Members of Parliament and a group of NUP councilors were also brought and thrown in the custody.
A few minutes later, arrested mayors were also brought. And these were the people appointed by our candidate Harriet Nakweede to supervise, coordinate and protect her votes.
We also came to learn that, some of our people were detained in Buvuma, others in Jinja, Mukono since Kayunga prisons were already full. Many are still jail on trumped-up charges.
Remember we knew, this election worked as a yard stick to other likely by-elections like one expected in Mityana.
On Friday evening we were picked from Naggalama Police custody and taken to court for mention of charges against us.
At court, we were charged of disobeying lawful orders concerning Presidential guidelines about curfew! What a trumped-up case! This was totally false.
Like i told you, we were arrested at 8:30pm before curfew time. Our only crime was supporting NUP and driving to Kayunga to execute party assignments.
Be it so, we were not arrested for participation in vote rigging, or that we had beaten up people, but they forged up cases about curfew directives.
When I returned to pick my car at Nazigo Police station, I found it when these bad hearted men had vandalised it and glasses broken!
Through all this, we however learnt a lot from the experience. President Museveni intends to make Ugandans hate politics and more so, elective politics especially here in Buganda region. We noted this.
He as if intends to make voters part away with elections.
We ask Ugandans not to be diverted by Mr. Museveni’s tricks. Yes we went through it all in Kayunga but our hearts are solid, we are very strong than ever before and will tame the enemy come another by-election.
In Part II of this story, Lubaga South MP Hon. Aloysius Mukasa narrates his story about people suspected to be Moses Karangwa’s men alerted security to arrest him immediately after he arrived in Kayunga with NUP Lubaga footsoldiers who are masters in anti vote rigging and vote protection.
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