On August 13, 2018, chaos ensued in Arua on the election eve to replace Col. Ibrahim Abiriga who had earlier in June been shot together with his bodyguard in Kawanda, Wakiso district.
Although one would expect that the police would immediately swing into action, it did not. Instead, the Special Forces Command (SFC) – the elite unit of the Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) hit the streets.
The results were a dead body of a one Yasin Kawuma, Bobi Wine’s driver, and broken Members of Parliament such as Robert Kyagulanyi (Bobi Wine) of Kyadondo East and Francis Zaake of Arua Municipality, hotel break-ins, an indiscriminate arrest of journalists and civilians alike.
According to the police spokesperson Emilian Kayima, the police called upon her sister security force to help out in Arua and it was the SFC that came to the rescue.
However, even after hours, the police did not call for reinforcement. The SFC led the arrests of MPs Kassiano Wadri of Arua Municipality, Paul Mwiru of Jinja East and Gerald Karuhanga of Ntungamo Municipality at Royal Hotel.
According to Wadri, the three and a couple of others were hiding in the same bathroom at the hotel.
“The SFC was so unprofessional, that’s why most of my colleagues got hurt. They are the worst human beings,” Wadri narrated after getting bail from Gulu High Court.
At Pacific Hotel where Bobi Wine was staying, the story was different. The SFC trekked the entire hotel, broke doors, windows and arrested scores of people until the arrested the Kyadondo East MP at around 3 am in the morning.
The mode of arrest alone speaks a lot about the SFC’s mode of work. A detailed statement from Bobi Wine shows how unprofessional and inexperienced the army is in handling policing duties.
“I entered a random room and locked myself in. I could hear the people outside and in the hotel, corridors crying for help. I could also hear the soldiers pulling these helpless people past the room in which I was, saying all sorts of profanities to them while beating them mercilessly,” the statement read.
“At some point, I heard soldiers pull some woman out of her room and ask her which room Bobi Wine had entered. The woman wailed saying she didn’t know and what followed were terrible beatings. I could hear her cry and plead for help as she was being dragged down the stairs,” he further said.
This same woman, Night Asara, was bleeding from her private parts in Gulu Magistrates Courts when they were arraigned for case hearing. When they got to him at around 3 am, the story was different.
They beat Bobi Wine to an inch of his life, ridiculed him, clipped his ears and toyed with his genitalia despite him surrendering to them.
“Another soldier pointed a pistol on my head and ordered me to kneel down. I put my hands up and just before my knees could reach the floor, the soldier who broke into the room used the same iron bar to hit me. He aimed it at my head and I put up my hand in defense so he hit my arm. The second blow came straight to my head on the side of my right eye. He hit me with this iron bar and I fell down. In no minute, all these guys were on me- each one looking for the best place to hurt,” added Bobi Wine.
Without discrimination, the army also arrested and beat up television journalists Herbert Zziwa of NTV and his cameraman, tore their shirts and the two were charged with inciting violence in Gulu.
Kampala, Jinja protests quashed
As Bobi Wine was being tortured in Arua and Gulu respectively, protests broke out in Kamwokya, a Kampala suburb, and the singer’s turf. It was the army that quashed the protests even if the Inspector General of Police, Okoth Ochola claimed responsibility.
When other protests broke out in other parts of Kampala such as Kisekka market, downtown, and Nasser Road, it was the SFC again that quelled the tensions by sealing off buildings and beating civilians with sticks.
Journalists were not spared either. James Akena, a photojournalist attached to Reuters filmed being beaten by over five soldiers in camera despite him kneeling down and raising his hands in surrender. Others such as Alfred Ochwo of The Observer and NTV ’s Juma Kirya and Ronald Galiwango were also beaten and arrested.
Another NBS journalist, Joshua Mujunga was also beaten in a separate incident by the army. In all the above, police played a spectator role and as you read this, the army is manning roadblocks at Naalya roundabouts and other major entry points into the city.
Although the army says that the deployment is standard procedure, critics say that this is symbolic of a panicky situation.
During the Bugiri Municipality by-election, Asuman Basalirwa’s bodyguard was shot and died in hospital. In Arua, it was Bobi’s driver and in Kampala, a Kyambogo university student died of a bullet wound sustained during a protest around the university.
More deaths were reported in Mityana Municipality when a taxi carrying football fans was short at during protests to free the area MP, Francis Zaake.
One of Bobi wine’s lawyers Nicholas Opiyo told Matooke Republic that the current deployment and street patrol by the army discourages visitors from coming to Uganda.
“I shot a video this morning (Wednesday) along the Lugogo By-pass and I doubt that anyone would come to Uganda with such patrols. This is not a sign of peace,” Opiyo said.
Opiyo who is a prominent human rights lawyer and activist advised the government to keep soldiers in the barracks rather than on streets doing police work.
“The army just does not know how to handle riots and the President himself admitted it in Arua. If the police are too weak, there is military police but the SFC has no business policing,” Opiyo, Team Leader at Chapter Four Uganda added.
