Ssebulime family shuns police reconciliation talks

Ms Sylivia Nakayita (left) and other relatives of Ronald Ssebulime in Nakabugo, Wakiso District, last week. PHOTO BY MICHAEL KAKUMIRIZI

Kampala- Relatives of the late Ronald Ssebulime, who was executed by police officers, have rejected informal negotiations with the police, insisting any meeting with them must be held in the presence of their lawyers.

Police last week admitted that Ssebulime, who was on March 24 shot dead after being suspected to have been trailing ICT state minister Idah Nantaba, was murdered by their officers.

Police had on Friday scheduled a reconciliation meeting between the deceased’s relatives and Inspector General of Police (IGP) Martins Okoth-Ochola to agree on how they can be compensated.

Explaining why they declined to meet police, Ms Sylivia Nakayita, a sister to the deceased, told Daily Monitor in an interview yesterday that police set conditions to strictly meet family members at their headquarters in Naguru, Kampala.

“They strictly wanted family members to meet the IGP. We wanted to go with our lawyers but they were uncomfortable with the composition of the delegation. We did not go there on Friday because most of the issues to be talked about required legal knowledge, which we don’t have,” Ms Nakayita said.

Ssebulime was shot dead by police officers after arresting and handcuffing him in Kayunga District on March 24. The officers had arrested him on suspicion that he wanted to carry out a deadly attack on Ms Nantaba.
The police investigations later found out that he was an innocent man, who was going to visit his children in a boarding school near the crime scene.

The officers have since been arrested on charges of murder and conspiracy to commit a felony. Police have also apologised for his killing.
Police tasked Mr Anatoli Muteterwa, a senior officer in the political commissariat, to deliver Ssebulime’s relatives to police headquarters for the meeting.

Mr Muteterwa confirmed that he reached out to the family for dialogue but said it was premature to reveal details to the media. According to the Attorney General’s orders, any government institution whose staff cause financial losses through incidents such as torture, the paid out funds will be deducted from the agency’s budget.

On Friday, Ssebulime’s family, through Muwada & Company Advocates, sent a notice of intention to sue the Attorney General, Ms Nantaba, police officers Edward Ssali, Ronald Opira, Ronald Baganza and Edward Cherotich, demanding a compensation of Shs9.9bn for the illegal killing of Ssebulime.