Stop games over Nambooze’s life

What you need to know:

The issue: Nambooze’s ordeal.

Our view: Police need to reassure the country that they are not implementing the President’s directive by treating Ms Nambooze in this manner.

Mukono Municipality MP Betty Nambooze is hospitalised at the government hospital in Kiruddu, Kampala, where the police are holding her over posts she allegedly made on social media regarding the killing of former Arua Municipality MP Ibrahim Abiriga earlier this month.

At her hospital bed, Ms Nambooze brandishes letters saying that she has again been referred to India, where she underwent an operation on her back late last year following an altercation between MPs in Parliament in September 2017. Ms Nambooze was among the MPs who opposed removing age limits for the presidency which was regarded as aimed at enabling President Museveni to rule for life, while the late Abiriga was one of the most fervent backers of the move.

On one occasion as tempers flared in Parliament, Ms Nambooze was captured on video attempting to grab a cap from Abiriga’s head on the stairs of the Parliament building. Ms Nambooze, like the other politicians with whom they opposed the lifting of the age limit for the presidency, accused the politicians who supported the lifting of the age limit of lack of patriotism, saying their counterparts were targeting money from President Museveni.

After the unfortunate shooting of Abiriga, which added to the worrying spate of shootings that have claimed about a dozen relatively high profile Ugandans in recent years, the divisions that were sharpened by the debate and scuffle over the lifting of the presidential age limits came back to the fore, with some ruling party politicians blaming the killing on the fallout over age limits and those opposed to the lifting of age limits making one or two unsavoury comments.

In the midst of the exchanges, the police picked Ms Nambooze from her home in Mukono, interrogated her and released her on police bond. Then a day later, the same police picked her up again, never mind that the period of her police bond had not elapsed. She says she needs to fly to India for medical attention but the police still hold on to her. The police first kept her in custody and ignored her pleas until her condition deteriorated, forcing them to take her to Kiruddu hospital for medical attention, where she has been held to-date.

This is happening at a time when President Museveni just made comments about not releasing suspects of certain categories on police bond or bail. Chief Justice Bart Katureebe came out to reassure the country that bail will continue to be granted to deserving suspects, but the police leadership kept quiet on the President’s statements. The police need to reassure the country that they are not implementing the President’s directive by treating Ms Nambooze in this manner.