Senior police officers accused of aiding eviction of 1,000 people

Kampala. Senior police officers have been named in aiding the eviction of hundreds of people from a 980-acre piece of land in Maddu Sub-county, Gomba District.
It is alleged that on October 10, 2017, senior police officers aided businessman Joseph Gahigi to evict people from Kawungeezi and Degeya villages.
Appearing before the Justice Catherine Bamugemereire-led Commission of Inquiry into Land Matters, Mr Julius Turyamureba, one of the evictees, named the officers as Mr Asuman Mugenyi, (Police of Director Operations), Asan Kasingye, (Police Political Commissar), former Gomba District Police Commander John Oyese, Ms Christine Nandini, and current Gomba DPC George Kuzaala.
“They came with 17 vehicles, of which three were lorries full of more than 600 policemen. They said they came to evict us and we were given 30 minutes to harvest our crops, remove our houses and go. They did not read us any document but they said they had orders from above,” Mr Turyamureba explained.
He added that their animals were stolen by the officers as well as harvesting their crops.
“Women were raped during the eviction and about three of the victims of rape approached me and told me that they were raped by police officers. Some members died and I remember three died because of the assaults and torture by the police during the eviction,” he testified adding that they did not report to police since the latter were looking for them.
Mr Turyamureba also accused the Resident District Commissioner, Mr Fred Nayebale, of conniving with Mr Gahigi to evict them from the land. Mr Turyamureba said Mr Gahigi brought a gang with machetes and sticks from Kampala which hacked and assaulted them, leaving one person dead.