Another NUP supporter narrates torture ordeal
Mohammad Kiriggwajjo shows the hand with missing finger nails during an interview on October 31, 2022. PHOTO | MICHAEL KAKUMIRIZI
What you need to know:
- Mohammad Kiriggwajjo claims the reason for being tortured is because of his support for the Opposition party.
Mohammad Kiriggwajjo, a resident of Mutundwe in Rubaga Division, Kampala, is nursing severe wounds on his right arm after allegedly being abducted and tortured by unknown gunmen last month.
In an interview with Monitor on Monday, he claimed the reason for being tortured is because of his support for the Opposition National Unity Platform (NUP) party.
Mr Kiriggwajjo 34, a boda boda cyclist in Kampala, contends that on October 5 as he walked to his home at around 8pm, men armed with guns grabbed him and forced him into a Toyota Noah, which he had earlier noticed to be without number plates.
“After taking the motorcycle for night parking, a Toyota Noah car, which had no number plates passed by me before it parked. As I bypassed it, men jumped out, grabbed me and forced me into it. They tied my legs and hands and covered by head with a hood,” Mr Kiriggwajjo narrated.
“I was driven to an unknown destination. They asked me to explain why I support the opposition, in particular NUP. My fingers were hit with a rod, which I assumed to be a hammer. One plucked off my nails as the other peeled off the finger skin,” he added.
He joins a list of other people who have tasted the wrath of unidentified gunmen after being abducted.
These, among others, include, Alexandria Marinos, who said to have been tortured for playing Bobi Wine’s songs in April 2022, Yasiin Busulwa of Nakawa, Samuel Masereka from Kasese and Cyrus Kasaato of Kyebando.
Yesterday, Mr Kiriggwajo reached out to his area MP, Mr Aloysius Mukasa (Rubaga South) for medical and welfare assistance after spending all his earlier savings.
“Those who tortured me cautioned me against reporting to police or taking the issue to the media, but now I have no alternative and I need people’s help. I have spent more than Shs500,000 on medication. I also have a family to look after yet all my savings are done,” Mr Kiriggwajo said.
He added: “I feel a lot of pain in the stomach, back and the chest, my bladder can no longer hold urine for longer and sometimes I pass out urine mixed with blood. I keep asking myself, is it a crime to support National Unity Platform?”
Mr Kiriggwajo also told this reporter that he was dropped by his abductors in the areas of Munyonyo on the same night after telling them that he is a grandson to one of the brigadiers in the UPDF).
MP Mukasa condemned the acts of torture and promised to raise Mr Kiriggwajo’s issue to the floor of Parliament when plenary resumes this week. Mr Mukasa also pledged to cater for the victim’s medical bills as well as supporting his family until he is fit to return to work.
“We have condemned acts of torture in this country in vain. I expect police to conduct and conclude with all torture cases so that the victims can get justice. We are in multiparty dispensation and I don’t know why opposition supporters are treated like terrorists,” he said.
When contacted, the deputy police spokesperson for Kampala Metropolitan area, Mr Luke Owoyesigyire, urged the victim to open up a case at Nateete Central Police Station so that police can start investigations into the matter.
Background
NUP party has alleged that security forces have abducted more than a dozen of its supporters, resurrecting dreaded memories of enforced disappearances of its members before, during and after last year’s presidential and general elections. But government and security agencies such as police and the army say they are unaware of missing Opposition supporters.
