Police must check rampant excesses

Last Thursday, a young man, in rare case of self-immolation, walked into Masaka Central Police Station and set himself ablaze. Hussein Walugembe, who was in his twenties, was buried on the same day at his family home in Kabonera Sub-country in Masaka.

Events leading to Walugembe’s painful death reveal a familiar trend in how security personnel handle civilians in implementing guidelines such as curfew adherence aimed at controlling the spread of Covid-19. In many instances, security forces have acted with impunity, abused the law, and overstepped their boundaries.
Walugembe’s case could have been handled more sensibly more so because it was a straightforward case. But he got frustrated after he failed to secure his motorcycle from police after futile visits to the station.

On the fateful day, the deceased was said to have entered the police office at around 8am and tried to negotiate with one of the officers for the release of his motorcycle. When he failed to recover the bike, he set himself on fire using petrol he had carried in a bottle.
While we could not independently verify why the police declined to release Walugembe’s motorcycle, Mr Henry Kimbugwe, a boda boda rider and friend of the deceased, said the traffic police officers demanded Shs150,000 from Walugembe to release his motorcycle and his pleas to the police to reduce the amount were rejected. Walugembe’s motorcycle was impounded for reportedly violating curfew guidelines.

Yasiin Kalyango, a boda boda rider, said police officers usually demand between Shs100,000 and Shs150,000 from boda boda riders whose motorcycles have been impounded over alleged breach of curfew and Covid-19 restrictions.
Mr Abdullah Ssenabulya, the chairperson of Boda boda cyclists association in Masaka District, reaffirms this. He said many of his colleagues have suffered under police during the lockdown.
Last Wednesday, three officers from Mbirizi Police Station in Lwengo District were arrested for beating up a boda boda rider. There are other documented cases where security personnel have been arrested for beating up civilians, including a pregnant woman, during the lockdown.

Similarly, extortion by security personnel is common. Last month, Daily Monitor did a story in which a number of people accused security forces in different parts of the country of extorting money from them in enforcing the Covid-19 guidelines.
Walugembe’s case exposes excesses in the way security officers handle law enforcement and implement Covid-19 guidelines. While police have arrested two of their officers for “acting very negligently and unreasonably in holding the motorcycle without satisfactory explanation to the deceased”, the Police Force should take urgent steps to clean up the flaws that leads to cases like Walugembe’s.