Godfrey Olukya
17 February 2021•Update: 17 February 2021
KAMPALA, Uganda
As Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine was inside the UN rights offices in Kampala presenting a petition against abduction of his supporters, just outside police and army were clobbering journalists and opposition lawmakers on Wednesday.
Police and military police Wednesday beat four journalists and three members of parliament (MPs) who were waiting outside the offices of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Kampala as Bobi Wine handed in his petition on missing supporters.
The journalists, including two women, were rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment.
The journalists included Josephine Namakumbi, Irene Abalo of NBS television, Cliff Wamala of NTV television and Timothy Murungi of New Vision newspaper.
“We were standing outside the UN offices waiting for Bobi Wine to come out and address us when policemen and soldiers started beating anyone they came across. They beat me several times as I fled,” said Timothy Mukasa.
A spokesman for Wine’s National Unity Platform, Joel Ssenyonyi, told Anadolu Agency: “It is terrible. [President Yoweri] Museveni’s army and police have gone crazy. Can you imagine beating journalists and members of parliament just outside the UN offices? Something must be done to get rid of such situations.”
Bobi Wine said that police and army in Uganda are no longer pro-people. He said they are used to harass Ugandans, especially those in the opposition.
The East African country's Electoral Commission on Jan. 16 announced Yoweri Museveni as the Jan. 14 elections winner. Wine, who refused to concede defeat, challenged the election results in the country's top court.
Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine, Monday released a list of at least 243 people he claims were abducted by the government.
On Twitter, Wine said his team has hundreds of other names that are still being verified before they can be published.
