Wadri’s aide Atiku appeals for help
Speaking out. Mr Shaban Atiku during an interview at Family Care Clinic in Arua Municipality on September 9. PHOTO BY FELIX WAROM OKELLO.
What you need to know:
- According to the Anti-Torture Act, every individual who tortures someone takes individual liability and can be imprisoned for up to seven years on conviction.
Shaban Atiku, an aide of the newly elected Arua Municipality Member of Parliament Kassiano Wadri, has appealed for financial support in order to meet his medical bills and fees for his children.
Atiku is one of the 33 people, including Kyaddondo East MP Robert Kyagulanyi alias Bobi Wine, who were charged with treason over allegations of stoning President Museveni’s car prior to the Arua Municipality by-election.
The sole bread winner and father of eight children and 25 dependants, Mr Atiku, 50, was on August 13 allegedly tortured by security personnel.
He is currently incapacitated at a medical centre in Kampala he declined to name.
Atiku claimed he was allegedly tortured by the former regional police commander, Mr Jonathan Musinguzi, during his arrest at Royal Hotel on August 13.
He sustained five broken ribs and spinal cord, and is still in deep pain besides having difficulties in walking.
“Schools opened and my children have not gone back because of the current challenges I am faced with. Even the fees balance of last term of Shs2.4 million is not yet cleared. I am no longer certain of the future of my children,” said Atiku in a telephone interview with Daily Monitor on Wednesday.
Atiku revealed that before he was injured, he was able to pay school fees by supplying firewood and food items to the schools.
However, he is afraid that his children in candidate classes might miss out on their final exams. “The medical bill is huge. I am supposed to pay Shs1.3 million to the private hospital where I am admitted but I do not have that money yet,” he said.
“I am grateful that Ms Stella Nyanzi and other well-wishers made some contributions. Ms Nyanzi gave me Shs200,000 recently for feeding my family. I cannot ask for help from Mr Wadri because he is also still in difficult moments,” he added.
One of the family members, who declined to be named out of fear, said: “If these children drop out of school, then this should be a curse on the government.”
Atiku has two wives who both engage in petty businesses that cannot sustain the families.
The x-ray report indicates that he has a broken arm, three broken ribs on the right and two on the left. “My right leg is paralysed because of broken spinal cord. I cannot feel any pain on the right leg because the nerves are paralysed,” he said.
Those who were critically tortured include the district Councilor for Arua Hill Division, Ms Night Asara, Mr Kyagulanyi, Ms Abalo and Mr Francis Zaake, the MP for Mityana Constituency who is now receiving treatment in India.
When contacted over the allegations Mr Musinguzi declined to comment saying it is the institution to speak about what happened in Arua.
Government intervention
Asked what government has done to help the victims, the Arua Resident District Commissioner, Mr Peter Debele, said: “Who sent them to misbehave? If they did not attack the President, would they have been shot? Government intervention is that some of them received treatment at government hospitals.”
The regional officer for Uganda Human Rights Commission, Ms Harriet Kajobe, called for speedy enforcement of the Anti-torture law. “Government should be held responsible for the torture because these were meted on civilians by soldiers and police. We are working hard to see that the victims are compensated through legal redress,” Ms Kajobe said.
