14th
December 2009
The
Inspector General of Police
General
Kale Kayihura
Re:
Complaint against the Police Officers’ Abuse of Office
General Kayihura, I write to forward
my complaint against some elements in the Police Force who have become an
enigma in my life since 11th April 2009 up to 17th August
2009. I first commend you on your recent efforts to purge the police of what my
colleague in the human rights movement Mohammed Ndifuna national coordinator of
HURINET calls “bad apples.” That surely is an indicator that you have started
listening to our cries about the abuse and misuse of office by the police.
General Kayihura, we first knew one
another way back in 2002 from Makerere
University where you used
to come for debates when you were still a UPDF Political Commissar and
Brigadier. I was then an undergraduate student studying political science and I
was incensed by the reports I used to read and hear about the Chieftaincy of
Military Intelligence and Internal Security Organisation and other paramilitary
outfits. Remember you once gave me your phone number and told me to contact
your body guards for a cup of coffee. I later learnt that where you hail in
Kisoro you belong to the Bagiri clan and given that I am a “mufuruki” in
Bushenyi whose roots are Rubanda in Kabale and a Muhimba at that, I knew you
are either my brother or my uncle. In fact during the police recruitment that
raised many body hairs if I had a corrupt mindset I wouldn’t run to anyone else
for recommendation but to you. Little did I know that I would suffer hardest at
the hands of the Police when you are the IGP and you seem to sanction my
traumatic experience by doing nothing every time I appeal to you.
I know this is more than a mere
letter but a short report. Accordingly, I beg that you find ample time to read
and internalise the report. Since I am not your appointing authority, I don’t
know your job description but I know for sure that if you don’t read you cannot
in the least make a good leader. But I also know that you don’t find reading a
problem since you hold a Master Degree of Laws. Because you hold a Master
degree in Law, you should be the last person to condone lawlessness in the
Police Force and I also expect you to distinguish between self interest and
public interest. I may for example, be an impediment to your coveted desire for
the NRM to retain power ad infinitum but
know that what the public needs is not whether or not you stay in power for 100
years but what services you deliver to them when you are in power.
I have been prompted to write this
report to you by the recent media reports published by 256news accessed online
at www.256news.com and the 12 December
Saturday Monitor story titled “MP pins Police on bribery”. That you oversaw the
arrest of the officers implicated shows you brook no nonsense any further. The principal purpose of this letter is to
ask you to prevail on officers who have always stolen my money to refund it and
penalise them for subjecting the good name of the Uganda Police Force to public
shame and ridicule. Ultimately that tarnishes your otherwise good name.
I have appealed to you for so long
but I have never got any help from your office. I don’t know whether you have
always felt I am too insignificant to merit your valuable time. I beg that the
attention you give to MPs you give to others in equal measure as well because
MPs are public servants and as such they are no greater than their masters –
members of the public. I have never seen a servant who is bigger than his/her
master. And by the way, personally I am better qualified than majority MPs and
spend more time in libraries than them. Hence, I am one of the philosopher
kings that Plato says should be in leadership. Please no pun intended.
That said let me give the catalogue
of abuses that I have gone through orchestrated by police officers.
1. On 11 April 2008, I was illegally
arrested, detained incommunicado, starved for four days in CPS dungeons and
terribly tortured. From there they took me to a mental hospital after conniving
with Butabika staff to further subject me to pharmacological torture. My money
amounting to 500 dollars and shillings 120,000 (one hundred and twenty
thousand) shillings was stolen; my Bata shoes were stolen and to date I have
never seen my black stripped suit. The police stayed with my keys and by the
time I went back home on 24th April 2009 I found my house had been
broken into, my computer, 2 flash discs and many other items were stolen. All
this was done under the supervision of ASP
Johnson Bahimbise who is at large and has since been promoted to SP and now
works as Chief Security Officer of Makerere
University.
2.On 15 May 2008, I was arrested from
Spear Motors by a police officer whose names I don’t know, assaulted and taken
to Jinja Road Police Station, money amounting to 60,000 (sixty thousand
shillings) was stolen and I was released after the intervention of Foundation
for Human Rights Initiative through their lawyers Vincent Babalanda and Evelyn.
I was later told by the OC on duty then that, “Nuwagaba, you can now go, if we
need you, we shall call you”. To date, I have never recovered my money and I
have never seen justice.
3. On 28 May 2008, I was detained
again at Kampala CPS after I had gone to make a formal complaint about my
property stolen. Shillings 540,000 (five hundred and forty thousand) and some
other small notes and coins whose amount I didn’t know was stolen. The following
day, RDC Alice Muwanguzi found me in the cells and I told him the ordeal I had
gone through. She told me, “Nuwagaba, let me go and order for your release”.
Sadly I was taken to Butabika again Vincent Babalanda who now works with Ms
Kenya found me there. You know all that happened there for I have written to
you, to the president and two stories have been run by the Prisoners’ Magazine
and the Red Pepper of July 4, 2009. Of course I have sued but I guess your
dysfunctional state might be trying to frustrate the hearing of my case no.
92/2009 in the high court of Uganda.
4. In March this year, I was arrested
by Sgt Kanyarutokye using my former lover and sister to SP John Nuwagira and
dumped at Kira Road.
After thorough investigation by sober and professional officers, I was found
innocent but also the complainant feared following up the case and she later
told me all she wanted was to have me jailed and deprived of my liberty. This
wasn’t the first time Kanyarutokye was tormenting me. I want Kanyarutokye penalised
for using the Police Patrol vehicle and other officers that are sustained by
taxpayers’ money to settle his personal scores against me. I feel so bad that I can be abused by people
like Kanyarutokye who even failed S.4 at Ruyonza SSS. You see the effect of
giving assignments to the academic dwarfs!
5. I have been assaulted thrice from
Butabika on the course of investigating human rights abuse by the Mental
Hospitals. On the first occasion I was beaten by the hospital guards citing
orders from orders from above and shillings 100,000 was stolen from me. I was
taken away by Mr. Aguma. The next time I was taken away by very many senior
police officers and they told me “since you sued Dr. Onen wait for your case to
be settled”. Should Butabika continue being used to inflict pharmacological
torture on innocent Ugandans? Hadn’t it been my efforts and efforts of FHRI and
UPAF, Gaudence Tushabomwe would have possibly met her creator months ago.
6. On 5th August still
following Tushabomwe’s case I was picked from Butabika again and dumped in
cells of Jinja Road Police Station. I was incarcerated for two days and later
released without producing me in court. I had 101 US dollars and 430,000. OC
CID, I was given 3500 (three thousand five hundred shillings). Mr. Chemonges
should refund this money if you are to be taken seriously in your fight against
injustice. I need explanation for depriving me of my liberty by incarcerating
me in the filthy cells when I was innocent.
7. On 17th August I was
arrested and tortured by police officers led by Detective Musinguzi working
under the direction of ASP Mission Samuel. “My crime” I am sure was writing a
letter to the President which was reproduced in the media and can be accessed
on http://africanexecutive.com/modules/magazine/articles.php?article=4579
complaining about heartless tuition increment a related article of which was
published by the Independent on 21st August 2009 when I was already
in Luzira. Musinguzi and company stole
1.4m an amount of money I wanted to use to make a part payment for fees for
a Law course whose tuition was hiked from 0.6m to 1.26m excluding functional
fees of 540,000 and other requirements such as accommodation, feeding, printing
and photocopying and transport inter
alia. If I were you people in government I would bring those who
constructively criticize me closer rather than persecuting them.
8. I was to be dumped in Wandegeya
Police cells where I spent two days having been denied police bond despite the
fact that the lows and highs of Uganda ranging from university Professors, UN
Diplomats, Foundation for Human Rights Initiative and senior police officers
among others. I was to be told that you called the OC CID and chastised her for
allowing me have access to the phone after I called you, CP Nduguse, CP
Kyomukama, AIGP Sharita among others. I hear you are a human rights lawyer!
The milestone this time was that I
was produced in City Hall court and later taken to Luzira where I spent fifteen
days. Of course trumped up charges of threatening violence and assault were
opened against me. I have, however, been
told by a certain CID detective that if I don’t see the Magistrate, I will be
convicted. I told him I am ready to go to Luzira because Mandela was in jail
for 27 years but it never stopped him from leading his country and retire after
one term in office making him a leading iconic leader on the African continent.
I have surely told you and the President that I am a law-abiding citizen and
that if I am suspected of having committed an offence I should be tried before
a competent and impartial tribunal or court. I know I am innocent and if I am
convicted it would be malicious conviction. But also, this could be a ploy to
frustrate me from proceeding with my case whose genesis is SP Bahimbise. I am
surely not being prosecuted but being persecuted.
9. You got a report from PSU in
regard to my complaint. I was not given a copy yet it makes weird allegations.
I wrote you a letter on 8th May 2009 in regard to the PSU report but
you chose to ignore me. Please rethink whatever I have communicated to you. You
and I are Catholics and we know that Paul who has become a paragon of virtue in
promoting Christianity was once Saul a persecutor of Christianity.
10. Please, address this matter
urgently so that it becomes the last time I am writing to you complaining about
the Police Force. Otherwise, I am ready
to write to countries that believe in democratic practice and human dignity
requesting them to slap a ban on your travels and withhold funding to the
police force. Although you have been named among those fighting corruption,
personally I would name you top on the shame list. Indeed fighting a person who
uses only the pen and tongue is the highest form of moral corruption. I know to
err is human but I strongly believe that I can fairly be convicted of only a
traffic offense because it happens unexpectedly but I have not committed
it. As a product of Danida Human Rights
and Good Governance internship programme whose purpose is to train a critical
mass of human rights and anti-corruption crusaders, I will write to DANIDA to
express the magnitude of persecution by the Police and suggest that they use
their money to help victims of human rights abuse.
Finally, prevail on all officers I
accuse to refund my property and money and bring them to book. Accordingly, SP
Bahimbise should pay back my US Dollars 500 and 200,000 plus 540,000 that were
stolen under his watch. He should also produce my laptop computer, flash discs,
my shoes, my wrist watch and my clothing.ASP Chemonges should produce my 100 US
dollars and shillings 430,000.ASP Mission under whose supervison Detective
Musinguzi and his colleagues were working should be forced to refund Shs 1.4m
that was stolen from my bag.They always ask the evidence that I had the money
but I would beg that you ask them to produce a record on which I signed for my
property so that you can prove that what I am saying is either false or true.
Because procedurally before one is dumped in police cells, they should sign against
their property. I know it may be a well thought out strategy to make life to
difficult for me through among others impoverishing me but I will never ever
keep silent in the wake of injustice orchestrated by those that are paid by
taxpayers’ money to protect our lives, liberty and property. What I have
written here is a mere tip of the iceberg but I have to assure you that whoever
fights me is fighting a losing battle. If I don’t listen to you soon, I will
upload this report on the internet and follow this matter legally nationally or
internationally to its logical conclusion.
Attached is an email I received from the
President telling me to report my harassment to police which can be accessed online
at http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/57599.
I hope you pay heed. For God and My
Country!
Yours truly,
VINCENT NUWAGABA
Email: mpvessynuwagaba@gmail.com
Cell: +256772 843
552 /+256702 843 552
CC: President of the Republic of Uganda
CC: Prof. Apollo Nsibambi Prime Minister
CC: Hon Kirunda Kivejinja, Minister of Internal Affairs
CC: Uganda Human Rights Commission
CC: Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs
CC: Human Rights Organisations
CC: Diplomatic Community
CC: Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
CC: Amnesty International
CC: Chairman
Makerere University
Council
CC: Chairman Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee.
CC: Danida - HUGGO
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