Police admit mishandling athletes sexual abuse case
Sipi region police commander James Ruhweza during an interview in Kapchorwa Town last week. PHOTO BY SANDE BASHAIJA
What you need to know:
Blame. Sipi region police commander James Ruhweza says officers who first handled the case never carried out serious investigations.
KAPCHORWA. Past police commanders in Sebei sub-region are partly to blame for the bungled investigations into allegations of sexual harassment among national female athletes, a top police officer had said.
Sipi region police commander James Ruhweza said his colleagues who handled the case from the start never carried out serious investigations.
Mr Ruhweza, who was transferred to the region in February, last month ordered the arrest of athletics coach Peter Wemali, who has since been arraigned in court and charged with aggravated defilement.
“When I came here, the masses were agitated. They were even planning to march to State House and protest before President Museveni,” Mr Ruhweza said in an interview in Kapchorwa last week.
“I picked interest to find out the truth. When I got to the ground to find out whether a thorough investigation had been done, I found out there was nothing like an investigation. We had to move in and save the situation,” he added.
The scandal came to the fore nearly a year ago after double Commonwealth gold medalist Moses Kipsiro blew the whistle that female athletes had complained of harassment by Wemali during a training camp in Bukwo, Sebei sub-region.
The Uganda Athletics Federation cleared the coach of any wrongdoing.
After attending a stakeholders meeting in Kapchorwa last month during which three underage runners reportedly claimed Wemali had defiled them, Mr Ruhweza promised to have him arrested. He made good on his promise after one week.
During his second court appearance last Thursday, court heard that Wemali had infected all the three runners with HIV and his charges were amended from rape to aggravated defilement.
Mr Ruhweza noted the arrest of the coach encouraged more runners to come out and narrate their ordeal. He is pinning his hope on the probe committee instituted by Internal Affairs minister Aronda Nyakairima to unearth Wemali’s accomplices.
“The team is here and I am sure they will cover all the other angles we could have missed,” he said.
