Police raid MP Betty Nambooze's homes over Museveni ICC petition
What you need to know:
- The petition spearheaded by the People’s Government led by four-time presidential contender, Dr Kizza Besigye requires at least two million Ugandans to append their signatures.
- The People’s Government will hand over the petition to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to open cases of crime against humanity against President Museveni and other government officials in security agencies.
Police have raided Mukono Municipality MP Betty Nambooze’s homes and cordoned them off in attempt to block meetings she had organized to collect signatures to petition the International Criminal Court (ICC) against President Museveni.
Police detectives commanded by SP Joab Wabwire on Friday morning raided the MP’s homes in Kavule and Nakabago villages in Mukono before they blocked everyone, including the MP, from leaving or accessing the homes.
One of the MP’s lawyers, Mr Abdullah Kiwanuka, one of her council and who had also said that they are looking for 20,000 signatures from greater Mukono to petition the ICC and also condemned the act of police to sorround off Betty Nambooze's home.
SP Wabwire said no one was allowed to access the MP.
However, some journalists managed to access Ms Nambooze who condemned the act of police making her home a prison.
"My home has become a prison. My husband has not gone to work. Even my children didn’t go to school. This torture that is continuing to hurt us so much is the reason we are collecting signatures to petition ICC," Ms Nambooze said.
The deputy spokesperson for Kampala metropolitan police, Mr Luke Owoyesigyire, said that the meetings were illegal since the MP did not inform police about them.
"We got information that she was going to have a rally in the market and that is what we are trying to stop because it is illegal and we were not informed about it," Mr Owoyesigyire said.
By press time Friday afternoon, the MP’s homes were still surrounded.
The petition spearheaded by the People’s Government led by four-time presidential contender, Dr Kizza Besigye requires at least two million Ugandans to append their signatures. The People’s Government will hand over the petition to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to open cases of crime against humanity against President Museveni and other government officials in security agencies.
According to the Rome Statute that establishes the ICC, crimes against humanity include murder, extermination, enslavement, torture, enforced disappearance of persons and imprisonment among others.
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