Herbert Ssempogo, Eddie Ssejoba and Madinah Tebajjukira
28 July 2008
Kampala — THE Police yesterday returned sh625,000 to Buganda information minister Peter Mayiga, a gesture he described as the professionalism the force had portrayed during his five-day detention.
Mayiga, while at CID headquarters in Kampala yesterday, was also given back a belt, a pair of shoes, a watch and toiletries which security agents confiscated during his July 18 arrest in Kampala.
"I was arrested like a hard-core criminal. I was blindfolded but when I got to Kiira Road Police Station, the Police did not treat me like a criminal. They were very professional," he told the press, moments after receiving the items.
He made a distinction between the people who arrested him, which he believed were not from the Police, and those who looked after him while in detention.
"They know that a suspect has rights, that if you are arrested, you have a right to talk to your relatives, to have food and water, which they provided to us."
Recounting the five days he spent in custody in western Uganda, he said: "The Police ensured that we were not denied our rights despite the difficult conditions we were in."
He was arrested along with his deputy, Medard Lubega and Betty Nambooze, the DP spokesperson in charge of the kingdom's civic education committee, which mobilises the public against the proposed Land Bill.
Lubega also said he had been given back his items, but Nambooze's husband, Mukasa Bakireke, said her vehicle, sh50,000 and a few clothes were still at Jinja Road Police Station.
Despite the praise he heaped on the Police, Mayiga criticised his detention without charge beyond the mandatory 48 hours.
"My arrest was illegal. I did not appear in court within 48 hours as prescribed by the law," he said.
Whereas Lubega and Nambooze were on Friday charged with sedition, Mayiga did not appear in court but was freed on Police bond.
He said he would seek redress from court over what his lawyers called 'wrongful arrest'.
Mayiga's bond was yesterday extended to August 4. CID deputy director in charge of crime investigation, Hajji Moses Balimwoyo, told them that inquiries into allegations of sedition and promoting sectarianism were still going on, according to Mayiga's lawyer.
Mayiga said he and his colleagues would soon meet the Kabaka to narrate their story.
Internal affairs minister Matia Kasaija yesterday in Parliament defended the Government's actions. The fact that they were being moved from one location to another, he said, was meant to speed up the investigations since they were taken to the places where the alleged offences were committed.
Meanwhile, the Uganda Young Democrats Vice-President, Mukasa Mbidde, was yesterday released on Police bond after two days in detention.
The officer in charge of Kira Road Police Station declared Mbidde a free man at about 1:00pm before his lawyer, Charles Opwonya. Minutes after leaving the station, Mbidde denied inciting violence.
"The only case I know of is refusing to support President Yoweri Museveni on land matters. But I will go ahead to oppose the Land Bill because the Government wants to grab Buganda's land," he said.
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