Kampala Lord Mayor, Erias Lukwago is all smiles after court ordered government to compensate him with Shs50m for violating his rights that, among others, saw a police officer grab him by his groin before bundling him onto a waiting van.

Justice Henrietta Wolayo of the High Court in Kampala, in her ruling on Monday, said

Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago arrested

Tuesday October 03 2017

on the morning of September 21, 2017, violated his right to personal liberty, an arrest that saw him scream in pain in front of cameras.
The judge further held that Mr Lukwago's arrest subjected him to degrading treatment and also violated his right to privacy when the police, unlawful entered his home in Bulwa, Rubaga Division in Kampala without a search warrant.

"I have found that on September 21, 2017 while at his home in Bulwa, Rubaga, the applicant (Mr Lukwago), was grabbed in the groin, his private parts squeezed and bundled into a cage like van and driven to Kira Police Station and finally to Nagalama where he was detained until 8:30pm," ruled justice Wolayo.

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• Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago arrested

  Tuesday October 03 2017

  

  Summary

  
  

  Kampala Lord Mayor, Erias Lukwago has been arrested from his home in Wakaliga, Rubaga Division and whisked away to unknown destination.
  Police led by Grace Nyangoma, the Old Kampala police station DPC had deployed at Mr Lukwago’s home and blocked him from leaving.

  While addressing journalists earlier today, Mr Lukwago castigated government for turning his home into a barracks and violating his rights yet he is defending the constitution
  "All this shows that Mr Museveni is scared of people power. We shall not allow him tinker with the constitution because it is our mandate as citizens to protect it. We must fight this impunity," Mr Lukwago said.

  He explained that he is supposed to attend a meeting today of all opposition leaders which was called by LoP Winnie Kiiza.
  Mr Lukwago further noted that he’s supposed to go to Buyende District to attend the burial of a KCCA staff, David Ntege, who died on Sunday.

  However, Ms Nyangoma told this reporter that police doesn't have any problem with Mr Lukwago as long as he doesn't cause chaos.
  "We got intelligence that the Lord Mayor will be making a procession in town with other Opposition politicians. We are here to ensure that he doesn't cause chaos," she said.

• I felt embarrassed by police’s dehumanizing arrest- Lukwago tells UHRC

  Monday September 25 2017

  

  Summary

  • Mr Lukwago, 47, and a group of other city leaders had planned to hold a procession from City Hall to Constitutional Square to launch their Togibikula (don’t tamper with the Constitution) campaign against the proposed amendment of Article 102(b) to remove the presidential age limit from the Constitution.
  • Mr Emilian Kayima, the spokesperson for Kampala Metropolitan Police, acknowledged Mr Lukwago’s concern but he noted that he should make a formal complaint with the Professional Standards Unit for further investigations.

  
  

  KAMPALA. Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago has complained to Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) about his arrest on Thursday last week.

  Mr Lukwago said he wants police investigated over his ‘brutal arrest’.

  “Police laid siege on my home on Thursday in the wee hours of the morning. They arrested me in a very dehumanizing manner, tore my jacket and squeezed my private parts,” said Mr Lukwago.

  He added, “I want the police, especially the IGP Gen Kale Kayihura, to be investigated over the matter and brought to book over these cases. I feel embarrassed and this thing will remain part of me for the rest of my life.”

  The UHRC promised to investigate the matter and get back to Mr Lukwago.
  Narrating to UHRC how police allegedly tortured him as he planned to leave his home in Wakaliga, Rubaga Division in Kampala, Mr Lukwago accused police of grabbing his private parts and squeezing them hard, causing him excruciating pain.

  Mr Lukwago, 47, and a group of other city leaders had planned to hold a procession from City Hall to Constitutional Square to launch their Togibikula (don’t tamper with the Constitution) campaign against the proposed amendment of Article 102(b) to remove the presidential age limit from the Constitution.
  Mr Lukwago, who screamed while he was being arrested, told Daily Monitor that police and other plain clothed operatives pounced on him while speaking to journalists in front of his gate before he was bundled on a waiting enclosed police van.

  “The police officers caused a lot of excruciating pain to me which I think was meant to incapacitate me. They massively pounced on me as you watched them on television and whoever touched me made sure that they leave pain on the part they had touched,” he said.
  “They shoved and punched me, squeezed my private parts, ribs and the entire part of the lower abdomen which left me in a lot of pain. I just surrendered because there is no way I could extricate myself. I still feel pain.” Mr Lukwago said.

  He said he went for medical examination on Friday but the doctor told him to go back after a week for further examination. He noted that although his bodyguard, who is also a police officer, Mr Thomas Hiisa, tried to shield him from the charged police officers, he was instead beaten up.
  His Personal Assistant, Mr Deo Mbabazi, had earlier on been arrested from his home.

  The Lord Mayor explained that during his brutal arrest, all his neighbours fled the vicinity because of the heavy police deployment around his home and nobody was allowed to come to his rescue. “Before my gruesome arrest, my wife, who had moved out to take the twins to school, was traumatised by the siege at our home and they couldn’t help. They went back inside the gate and reorganised to go but they were subjected to thorough check-up, leaving them in fear. Until now, they are still traumatised,” he said.

  Mr Lukwago’s experience is similar to that of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party national mobiliser, Ms Ingrid Turinawe, whose breast was squeezed by a male police officer in April 2012 during a rally to launch the 4GC pressure group.
  Although Ms Sarah Kanyike, the deputy lord mayor, had alleged on some local radio station that her breast was squeezed by a police officer on the same day at City Hall, she could not answer our repeated calls.

  Ms Kanyike and other city councillors had camped at City Hall, waiting for Mr Lukwago who would lead their march to the Constitution Square.
  However, their plan suffered a stillbirth when police led by CPS District Police Commander (DPC) Joseph Bakaleke stormed City Hall, holding them hostage for about one hour.
  He later impounded their black Tshirts which they had planned to wear during their march.

  Mr Lukwago could from time to time pause during the interview him and shake his head in disbelief.
  Inside the police van where he was shuttled to Kira Road Police Station, the Lord Mayor revealed that “it’s dark and partitioned into two rooms”, adding that he was made to sit in one small room while the other four plain cloth mean- looking men sat in the other room.

  He was later relocated to Naggalama Police Station with Kawempe North councillor Micheal Ziggwa Wamala who had been previously picked from his home.

  “My gruesome arrest has humiliated me by virtue of my position as the Lord Mayor and my entire profile. But, I have issued a notice to the Attorney General and Mr Kayihura demanding them to own up, apologise and bring to book those goons who caused pain to me, and also compensate me,” he said.

  Mr Emilian Kayima, the spokesperson for Kampala Metropolitan Police, acknowledged Mr Lukwago’s concern but he noted that he should make a formal complaint with the Professional Standards Unit for further investigations.

  editorial@ug.nationmedia.com

She added: "Going by the principle in the law of torts that the purpose of damage is to place the plaintiff in the position he was in before the damage or injury, I consider a sum of Shs50m adequate as compensation for the unlawful arrest and violation of his right to liberty protected under Article 23, violation of his right to privacy protected by Article 27 and degrading treatment protected by Article 24."

The court orders followed a law suit filed by Mr Lukwago over three years ago in which he had contended that on September 21, 2017, the then Divisional Commander of Old Kampala Police Station, ASP Grace Nyangoma led a group of police officers who surrounded his home and later violently arrested him.

This was during the period of the heated debate on presidential age limit. But justifying her presence at the lord mayor's home, ASP Nyangoma told court that she had prior, received credible information that high profile individuals including Mr Lukwago, were to be injured. She also told court that the key opposition politician, was to participate or instigate planned unlawful assemblies in town, the reason she deployed at his place for his safety.

But the judge in her analysis, observed that if ASP Nyangoma's intention was to protect Mr Lukwago from being harmed as her intelligence information she received indicated, then it beats court’s understanding for the same police to arrest him for allegedly plotting to hold an illegal assembly in town.
The judge instead concluded that at the time of Mr Lukwago's arrest, he was on his way to work as Kampala lord mayor.

"In the absence of proof of credible information relied upon by the respondent (Attorney General) to arrest the applicant (Mr Lukwago) and in light of the contradiction in the actual reasons for the arrest, that's, to protect the applicant and to prevent commission of a cognizable offense and in light of the credible evidence of the applicant, he was on his way to work as lord mayor," Justice Wolayo held.
"On balance of probabilities, I find that the respondent (AG) has failed to demonstrate that the applicant was about to instigate an unlawful assembly when he was arrested." she further ruled.
The court also awarded Mr Lukwago costs of the suit and ordered that the principle award shall carry a 10 per cent interest per annum from the date of judgment until payment in full.

editorial@ug.nationmedia.com