Uganda: Police Insist Bobi Was Not Shot

Police have insisted that there is no evidence to prove National Unity Platform (NUP) president, Robert Kyagulanyi, also known as Bobi Wine, was shot by their officers.

In an incident in Bulindo in Wakiso district, Kyagulanyi who had just attended a thanksgiving for lawyer Gorge Musisi was injured during a confrontation with police.

He has since been admitted to Nsambya hospital.

Addressing journalists on Wednesday, Police spokesperson, Kituuma Rusoke said after the thanksgiving, Kyayulanyi’s team held a procession and that despite advice against the same, they refused to heed to the same.

He said in the resultant fracas, the NUP president was injured.

“The information we got from officers at that time was that they saw him stumbling while getting into his vehicle but on other hand, his team and a number of people said he was shot. What for us we are insisting on is that until we shall carry out an investigation, we are a professional body we cant jump into any conclusion,” Rusoke said.

A number of videos shared on social media have tried to point to point to what happened at the scene where Kyagulanyi was injured.

In some of the videos, a police officer is seen firing towards where Kyagulanyi was , an a few moments later, Kyagulanyi is seen on the ground and his aides pick him up as he stumbled with a wound on his leg.

Whereas Kyagulanyi and his team say he was shot, the police spokesperson said during the fracas, the opposition politician’s team threw stones at police.

He said during this mele, Kyagulanyi was injured.

“We don’t want to draw conclusions on what exactly happened because we might say this happened and another thing emerges,” Rusoke said.

“We can only conclude on a basis of a professional finding. We don’t want to get into arguments of injury by bullets or anything but want the investigation to prove. It must be medical and must be done by professional investigators.”

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He noted that during the fracas, three police officers were injured and two police vehicles damaged.

Rusoke said Police will not merely base on social media videos that are being circulated.

Opposition stalwart Kizza Besigye dismissed Police’s claims of a stumble by Kyagulanyi.

“I’ve just caught up with what happened last evening in Bulindo, Kira. The horrible outcome of what, as usual, is totally uncalled for police aggression against political “opposition” leaders. From LOP Ssenyonyi’s brief, the injuries Kyagulanyi suffered are from the tear ball grenades,” Dr Beisgye said.

Dr Besigye, a retired Colonel, former bush war combatant and probably the one man who has seen it all with Ugandan police and military, said the police usually employs such tear ball grenades to persecute, especially opposition politicians.

“We condemn the UPF for its continued rampant abuse of human rights.”

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