Gen Kayihura quizzed on Kasokoso land row
Inspector General of Police Kale Kayihura (L) and director Interpol Uganda Hassan Kasingye appear before MPs yesterday. PHOTO BY GEOFFREY SERUYANGE
Parliament- Brutality, impunity, corruption through fictitious rent deals and non-accountability of public funds were issues lawmakers demanded answers on when police chiefs led by their boss, Gen Kale Kayihura, appeared before the Public Accounts Committee.
In questioning Gen Kayihura on the rising cases of police brutality, the lawmakers led by Serere Woman MP Alice Alaso demanded that he explains the indiscriminate use of tear gas and violence at Kasokoso, a Kampala suburb, where residents and National Housing officials are involved in a land dispute.
Ms Alaso told the Daily Monitor: “Kasokoso women and children were teargased and beaten with impunity; we want to know how he [Gen Kayihura] has instructed the use of brutality on innocent Ugandans.”
Gen Kayihura, who made a brief appearance before PAC on a day police officials failed to account for more than Shs37 billion in domestic arrears for June 2011, admitted that in quelling Kasokoso protests, mistakes could have been made by individual officers and defended the Force from blanket condemnation.
Kayihura’s defence
“We are not a force of angels; even the best police in the world make mistakes,” he said. “There is no impunity in police; this is why you have seen me personally arresting indiscipline officers. I have not watched the Kasokoso footage but we are going to investigate what exactly happened.”
In a petition to Parliament, the residents of Kasokoso in Wakiso District yesterday requested parliament to investigate how the land in question changed ownership since 1966. The residents made the request through their MPs Rosemary Sseninde (NRM Wakiso Woman) and Ibrahim Ssemuju Nganda (FDC Kyodondo East).
Deputy Speaker Jacob Oulanyah, who chaired the House, instructed the Committee on Physical Infrastructure to handle the petition “expeditiously” in less than 45 days.
Kasokoso residents yesterday swamped the public gallery to witness the presentation of their petition. Those who talked to the Daily Monitor accused the police of bias and brutality and vowed not to leave their “ancestral” land. The National Housing and Construction Company (NHCC) claims ownership of the dis puted land.
At least 30 Kasokoso residents were arrested by police on Monday as they battled angry rioters protesting the arrest of their leader, Mr Umar Mayanja. The unrest springs from residents’ opposition to an alleged plan by the NHCC to survey and demarcate 380 acres of land in the area.
