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Uganda: Mengo Minister, Medard Lubega Arrested
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The Weekly Observer (Kampala)
18 July 2008
Posted to the web 18 July 2008
Edris Kiggundu
Medard Ssegoona Lubega, Buganda's outspoken State Minister for Information was this morning arrested, by plain clothed security personnel as he arrived for work.
Lubega, a youthful lawyer, was accosted at Arua Park, few metres from his law chambers. He was questioned at the CID headquarters and is being held at the Central Police Station (CPS).
The deputy police spokesperson, Sam Lubega told The Weekly Observer that Lubega will be charged with inciting violence and promoting sectarianism, crimes, he alleged, Lubega committed while featuring on CBS radio some time back.
He confirmed Lubega had been questioned at the CID, Friday morning without confirming whether he would appear before court soon. But The Weekly Observer has learnt that Lubega, MP Erias Lukwago's law partner, is likely to be produced before court Friday evening, probably at 4.30PM.
Should court deny him bail, he is likely to spend the weekend in Luzira Prison. Yet even if court granted him cash bail, he could still be taken to Luzira, as banks, through which he could have effected payment, will be closed by this time. It is a tactic the government has used successfully against several politicians, viewed as opponents.
This morning Lubega was scheduled to attend the Ttabamiruka, an annual conference held by the Baganda to discuss issues affecting their kingdom, but he did not show up, prompting officials to find out why. Later, Buganda's Minister for Research, David Mpanga, after investigations, informed the conference that is taking place at Hotel Africana in Kampala, that Lubega had been arrested. The conference unanimously condemned the arrest.
Since he was appointed on Mengo's cabinet a year ago, Lubega has been a critic of government's attempt to amend the Land Act, that Buganda views as an attempt to weaken its traditional stronghold over land.
In an interview with The Weekly Observer last year, shortly after some Mengo ministers were summoned to the CID for allegedly making sectarian statements over the radio, Lubega said of the move:
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"Certainly they will appear. They allegedly made these statements in October. The CID had to wait until the president came up and made the statements. What do you read in this? That possibly these people are out there to dance to the tunes of the president. We look at this as a form of intimidation and intended persecution but it is not going to bring our voices down. We are ready for anything."
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