Kiboko squad resurfaces in city chaos
Some members of the Kiboko Squad speak to police officers in Nakulabye yesterday. Left, Dr Kizza Besigye is arrested last week. Photo by Abubaker Lubowa
Kampala- Protests broke out in and around the city yesterday, following the manner in which the ruling NRM party, aided by the police, was removing the Lord Mayor from office.
The authorities had anticipated a backlash to their actions. And so, the police working alongside unidentified club-wielding individuals dressed in civilian clothes deployed heavily in and around town.
Kampala Metropolitan Police Spokesperson Ibin Ssenkumbi last evening said: “Appropriate deployment was made due to intelligence information that there was mobilisation of political activists who have mobilised youth to cause confusion in the city.”
Mr Ssenkumbi, however, did not say exactly which activists were involved in the purported plan to unsettle the city.
When the news spread around town that the councillors had voted, in disregard of a court injunction, to remove Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago from office, the morning calm was soon broken in downtown Kampala.
Traders closed their shops in the hotbed Kisekka Market area. Stones flew from all directions but it was not clear who was hurling the missiles.
Police under the command of operational commander, Kampala Metropolitan North, Mr Sam Omala, responded in force, lobbing teargas canisters and dispersing the gathering crowds.
A few kilometres away in Nakulabye and Kasubi city outskirts, spontaneous protests which saw an attempt to block the Makerere Road attracted a quick reaction from the police.
Separate units of police deployed with teargas as others rushed the protestors, indiscriminately whipping anyone not quick enough to get out of the way.
At around mid-day, chaos erupted again but this time with more vigour than before as the crowds resorted to burning tyres.
In Kisekka Market, it was only the heavy downpour that finally brought the protests to an end.
The return of club and stick-wielding musclemen, reminiscent of the State-associated ‘Kiboko Squad’ militia left the authorities struggling to explain themselves. According to Ms Judith Nabakooba, the police spokesperson, the individuals were not Kiboko Squad members but rather civilians.
“I am informed that those people with sticks were civilians who organised themselves to prevent chaos in their markets but they were not Kiboko Squad members. We, however, condemn their actions of using sticks to cane people,” Ms Nabakooba said.
Ms Nabakooba did not say how and why these individuals were working hand-in-glove with the police.
In 2011, a police inquiry headed by Deputy Inspector General of Police Okoth Ochola was set up to investigate the activities of the Kiboko Squad. In its report, it indicated that the ‘squad’ was established by a group of businessmen in Kampala, with intent of securing their businesses in times of riots.
The team concluded that the ‘squad’ is illegal and must be disbanded. It also recommended the arrest and prosecution of its members who had assaulted opposition supporters
In February 2011, Juma Ssemakula the self-proclaimed leader of the group was arrested but released by police without any charge.
The group was once again spotted in 2012 during the Bukoto South by-election in Lwengo when it re-emerged and caused chaos.
