By John V Sserwaniko
Since the Arua attack on Bobi Wine, Francis Zzake and other MPs on Monday, Buganda kingdom has endured sustained bashing as tens of thousands of social media users complained about Mengo’s continued silence (some called it indifference) towards the Kyaddondo East MP who currently is the most influential & loved politician in central region. Perhaps having heard the wide spread public outcry protesting Kabaka government’s indifference, Katikkiro Charles Peter Mayiga (CPM) has broken the silence and publicly spoken out today Friday. This was a short while ago and the venue was Mityana district which is home to Zzake who is one of the badly bruised MPs. CPM was in Mityana to commission 400 community bore holes the NGO Wells of Life built and donated to the community. In a fiery speech, CPM condemned torture in general terms but also spoke specifically about what he called targeted witch-hunt against politicians from Buganda region. “Torture is bad and abominable both in law and morality. There can never be circumstances when it’s justifiable. It’s wrong it’s abominable. But again why specifically target politicians from a certain region? There was an MP [Tony Kipoi] whom they returned sometime back from Botswana and they said he had committed treason the same thing of which Hon Kyagulanyi Sentamu is being accused. But they never treated him [Kipoi] in the same way. We have others like Gen Kale Kayihura who we are told is being held for very serious offences. He was never tortured. Then why torture Bobi Wine and Zzake who are being accused of cases which aren’t even clear? This is something we must scrutinize seriously as Kabaka’s people,” Mayiga told a ceremony that was also attended by Mityana LC5 Chairman Joseph Luzige, a strong Musevenist from NRM. The Katikkiro said, personally Kyagulanyi means a lot to him majorly for two reasons. One he is “Omubanda wa Kakaba [the king’s celeb]” and secondly “he is my brother-in-law which means a lot to me [CPM’s wife is from Mbogo clan just like Bobi].” He furiously asked: “Why would you unleash so much violence on Zzake to the extent that he loses his consciousness? You even break his fingers. We have all seen those pathetic images. Why do such a thing to someone who you have already overpowered and put under submission? These are very serious matters for all of us to reflect upon because it’s prohibited to torture a detainee even if it wasn’t an MP.”
LUKWAGO ON BBC:
In a related development, Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago who visited Bobi Wine earlier today Friday at the Makindye detention facility has given an elaborate narrative to British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) sharing with the world the horror he saw at Makindye. Speaking on Focus on Africa program (6pm edition) where he was interviewed by a Ugandan Paul Bakibinga, Lukwago sounded nervous and fearful that the worst might happen if the MP isn’t urgently availed with proper medical attention. Lukwago said the UPDF Captain currently treating Bobi Wine is clearly overwhelmed “because he was deeply wounded, he is in too much pain and there must be a scan to guide the medical decisions.” Lukwago said that, along with Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) Chairman Med Kaggwa they were permitted to meet Bobi after a lot of hassle. They also had his wife Barbie Itungo and brother Eddie Yawe. “We were all devastated and shed tears on seeing the pain Hon Kyagulanyi was in. Unable to walk on his own, he had to be supported by three soldiers. They brought him to a small room and there was a plastic chair in which they sat him. But he couldn’t even sit in that chair unsupported. He tried recounting to us what happened but he couldn’t even complete the conversation because of the difficulty with which he was talking,” Lukwago explained to the world audience.
He says Bobi Wine told them that after the Arua rally and procession, he retreated to his hotel room to take some rest. “As soon as he put down his head, he heard people violently banging the door. He says they forced the door open and he didn’t put up any resistance. He put up his hands as a sign of surrender but instead they started clobbering him like a snake. He says they hit him with something that looked like an iron bar on the head and he then blacked out. He ceased understanding but realized later on that he was being detained in a room outside Arua airfield,” Lukwago narrated as he struggled to conceal the brokenness in his voice. He emotionally says on arrival, Bobi’s wife Barbie smiled and offered a hug which Bobi Wine objected to loudly wailing that the pain was simply too much. “We suspect hisribs were cracked through torture and he urgently needs a comprehensive scan to understand the extent of damage to his internal organs. Even in the military, those soldiers too realize he needs treatment and the UHRC team recorded everything. UHRC Chairman Hon Med Kaggwa said Hon Kyagulanyi’s personal physician is there but they refused it saying they have everything in the military yet Hon Kyagulanyi says he doesn’t understand the things they have been injecting in him.” Lukwago also says pleas by Barbie to be allowed to regularly visit Bobi and bring him prepared meals have been rejected by the military.
Med Kaggwa has promised to intensify the engagement with the military authorities and he is hopeful, he will eventually register some breakthrough. Lukwago told BBC that Bobi Wine is being humiliated too much because even going for a short call, he has to be helped by the three soldiers that have been designated as his care givers. The Lord Mayor corroborated on the BBC Medard Segona’s earlier narrative that Bobi Wine’s face and head are swollen, can’t see anything, has extreme speaking difficulties and can’t walk or even stand unsupported. He agreed with Bakibinga’s suggestion that it was inhuman and degrading to remand someone in Bobi’s situation up to 23rd August without being allowed access to adequate medical treatment. Lukwago says Bobi Wine urgently needs a comprehensive scan so that the medical teams can know what to immediately treat before his situation deteriorates. Lukwago is fearful that if the denial to proper medical attention continues, any deterioration in the current situation could see Bobi Wine succumb to his external and internal wounds. He clearly needs everybody’s prayers.
