Police woman accuses her bosses of rape and torture

Kampala. Tracking Police Constable Jane Nyirarukundo in Nateete, a Kampala suburb involves passing through a noisy slum of loitering drunkards and gossiping women on shop verandahs, and jumping open sewers.
When we locate her, the atmosphere in the compound where she rents two rooms, is serene, a far cry from the noise and bustle outside the gate. We find her preparing tea for her son’s lunch and she tells us her story.

In 2007, a hopeful Police Constable Jane Nyirarukundo joined Uganda Police Force only to leave it acrimoniously, seven years later.
“In 2007 while at the Police training school in Kabalye, Masindi, I contracted a cough that weakened me. I was unable to take part in the rigorous training. Another trainee thought I was dodging work and reported me to an instructor, who told me to put my finger on a mound of faeces and put it on my lips. I refused,” she says.
A trainee refusing punishment was unheard of. Angry, the instructor reportedly told Nyirarukundo to carry a 20kg log and when she failed, he beat her.

The torture begins
Ms Nyirarukundo says he pushed her off a wooden plank that serves as a bridge above a stream. As she fell, she cut her eye, lost her front tooth and hurt her chest. Asked why she did not report the torture, she says she was threatened with death.
Back in Kampala, Ms Nyirarukundo met ASP (then Sergeant) Fortune Habyara. “He was older than me but we both come from Mugihurwanda village in Kisoro District. He assigned me to Nateete Police Station. This was during The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm),” she narrates.
During Chogm, constables who worked on the day shift were paid Shs100,000 while those the night shift received Shs200,000.
To make ends meet, Nyirarukundo worked both shifts. However, what surprised her, she says, was that Habyara only paid her Shs100,000 per day.

“When I inquired about this anomaly, he threatened me. When I pushed further for my money, he told me that he was in love with me. I rejected his advances.”
Although she did not get her money, she continued working without incident. Her woes with Habyara resurfaced in 2011.
“I was six months pregnant and had to go for training in Nagalama. When I informed Grace Turyagumanawe of my condition, he sent me to John Nuwagira, now director of field force police, who told me to go to Moses Kafeero for advice,” she says.
Mr Kafeero advised her to go to the training and inform the commanders of her condition. During the morning parade, she informed Commander Mulondo that she was pregnant. Mulondo told her not to bother him.
“I began attending classes but when the 2011 mayoral elections were approaching, we were told we needed to learn how to fire tear gas into the crowds. To teach us how to do it, they fired the tear gas at us on the training grounds.”

Ms Nyirarukundo says she fainted and was carried into a tent and that while others who fainted were taken to hospital, she was kept in the tent.

After two weeks, she began seeing discharge from her private parts. A colleague then told her that the baby had probably died, and was rotting in her womb.
Mr Mulondo later authorised her to go to Mulago hospital for treatment. It was then that she discovered she had had a miscarriage. Daily Monitor has seen an In-patient discharge form 353073 from Mulago hospital dated February 23, 2011, in which the diagnosis is a miscarriage and hypertension.
Later, she says, Mr Habyara opened a case of employing a minor against her. Then began an endless cycle of explaining her woes to different police bosses. Mr Tuyragumanawe, Deputy IGP Okoth Ochola, and Assan Kasingye all listened to her but advised her to take her complaint back to the PSU, where her accuser worked.

“Finally I went to IGP Kayihura’s ADC Major Emma Muhoozi, who told me to write a statement. He also called Habyara to talk it over.”
The next evening, on June 5, 2011, while at home, OC Busega police station, Kakuuku came calling. He wanted her to help him search a female criminal they had arrested.
While we were talking, Oboth of PSU and another man came in and began questioning me about where I got the authority to report superiors.”
As they were talking, Habyara came in with a pistol and pointed it at her head, threatening to kill her.
Ms Nyirarukundo says they bundled her, with her eight-year-old daughter and four-year-old son into a car and drove them to Nsangi. “Habyara ordered the other men to spread my legs and he shone a torch in my private parts. I told them that I would report them to their superiors but they laughed at me. When we reached Kalagala forest in Mpigi, they took us out of the car and beat me again.

After the beating, Ms Nyirarukundo alleges that Habyara raped her then invited the rest to have their fill of her. Her children were standing beside her as she was gang raped.
Threatening her if she went public, they dropped her back in Busega and the next day, opened a case of forgery and employment of a minor against her at Mwanga II Court. Both cases were eventually dismissed.

Demanding compensation
Currently, through Lukwago and Company Advocates, Ms Nyirarukundo has sued both Habyara and Uganda Police Force for rape and torture, loss of employment and loss of her child, respectively.
“Last year, I wrote to then CPS DPC Henry Kintu to reinstate me to my position and to pay my salary arrears. He sent me to Kibuli where I was told that my employment file was missing. It had been taken by ASP Habyara without even signing for it. He had also stopped my salary from being processed.”
Nyirarukundo says her main plight is the education of her children.
“I do not want reinstatement in the police force. I just want my salary arrears of one year and nine months, and compensation for the torture and rape I have been subjected to,” she says.

Employment letter
Nyirarukundo claims that her employment letter from the Police Force was lost in March 2011 during a flood that swept through the Fire Brigade Headquarters at Clock Tower, where she kept residence.
However, she still has a card issued by the police force (a copy of which the Daily Monitor has seen) on which is a reference number (IPPS: 794982 which was verified on 22 April, 2014) used during payment of salary.
She also has documentation, from the force, the Security Minister Muruuli Mukasa, and her superiors, in regard to her training, treatment, and the cases against her.

What police says
The police deputy spokesperson, Ms Polly Namaye, when contacted yesterday said she (the police) are aware about the case, saying it has been around for nearly two years now. She also confirmed that Ms Nyirarukundo serves the police as special police constable, a position/assignment that is either renewed or terminated after every two years.

On the alleged rape by her colleague—officer:
“These are allegations and are yet to be proven. She made those allegations as an afterthought. There is no medical report indicating that she was raped—in a rape case, you must prove that there was forced penetration. That claim has not been proven yet. As far as we are concerned, this rape claim remains an allegation until she proves it otherwise.

“A series of things happened. She didn’t want to go for training to upgrade her policing skills claiming she was pregnant yet she was not. She later claimed that she lost that pregnancy during the training but there was no proof backing that claim. There was another case involving a starved child, which she hoped to get money from and when it didn’t happen, she came up with these allegations that she is yet to prove.”

On her unpaid salary:
“She was not found on duty. And the policy is once the check is done and you are not on duty, your name will be blocked or deleted from the payroll. And that is what happened with her case. However, she could have followed up the case just the way others did. You explain your situation then you will be put back on payroll. She didn’t do all that despite knowing the procedures. If she wants, she can still present her case. The spot-check is done to weed out ghost officers and save the government millions of shillings paid to non-existent officers.”
As a special police constable Nyirarukundo’s contract is renewed after every two years but Namaye could not confirm whether Ms Nyirarukundo’s contract is still running or not.

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