Inside 3-day hunt that led to Amuriat’s arrest

A video clip of Mbarara District Police Commander (DPC) John Rutagira tumbling to the ground – caught between the front wheel of a boda boda carrying presidential candidate Patrick Oboi Amuriat on the one hand and another boda boda on the other – has been making the rounds since Wednesday.

The clip formed much of the commentary on electronic media for the week, with some such as government spokesperson Ofwono Opondo and veteran journalist Andrew Mwenda condemning Mr Amuriat for what they called refusal to obey lawful orders by the police. 

Others such as the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) spokesperson Ibrahim Ssemujju, on the other hand, have argued that the police were issuing unlawful orders and had disregarded a plea contained in a letter from the Electoral Commission (EC) chairperson Simon Byabakama to the police boss to stop blocking rallies of presidential candidates. 

Campaign meetings by the FDC presidential candidate and those of the National Unity Platform (NUP) party candidate Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine, have been routinely blocked in many places across the country, with the police ensuring that the candidates don’t access heavily populated towns and cities. 

Alliance for National Transformation (ANT) party presidential candidate Mugisha Muntu and former spymaster Lt Gen Henry Tumukunde (Independent) have also got a number of their campaign activities blocked.

How it started
For Mr Amuriat, the ongoing ordeal started on Wednesday, at around 4pm.

He had campaigned in Isingiro District for the first part of the day and wanted to crown it in Mbarara City. His final campaign meeting was scheduled to take place at Kakyeka stadium. 

On the drive from Isingiro – at Rwizi bridge – the police had mounted a roadblock and they asked Mr Amuriat’s entourage to divert from the main road. This has been a common practice since the campaigns started. Mr Amuriat was not to have any of that this time round.

He walked out of his vehicle – barefoot as he has always been on this campaign trail – and walked past the roadblock, in the direction of Mbarara City. 

Rukungiri Municiplaity MP Roland Kaginda, together with a motley crowd of blue-clad FDC diehards, followed their candidate on what for a moment appeared to be a trek to Mbarara City centre. Then boda boda riders suddenly appeared. Some of the boda boda riders donned FDC’s blue T-shirts, with others in plain wear. 

Mr Amuriat jumped onto one of the boda bodas, ready to hit the road to Mbarara City. 

But Mr Rutagira was on the alert and was not in the mood to lose sight of his target. He moved fast and stood in the way of the boda boda on which Mr Amuriat was seated. The rider was determined to whisk his man away and he appeared not to have enough time to instantly brake when Mr Rutagira abruptly got in the way. 

In an instant, Mr Rutagira was caught between the wheels of two boda bodas and he tumbled onto the ground. He sprang up as quickly as he had gone to the ground and was immediately back on his mission of trying to block Mr Amuriat from proceeding to Mbarara City centre.

It was too late. The boda boda man had already disappeared with his expensive passenger. 

For the 40 minutes that followed, Mr Amuriat rode around Mbarara City, with his boda boda riders joined by several others in a cat and mouse chase with the police. 

Even his own entourage and media crew who were tracking him could not find him for a lengthy period. 

The reappearance
When the presidential candidate resurfaced at Rwebikona in Mbarara, he was all covered in dust and his bare feet were all brown as dust itself.

He walked into a shop and emerged with an ill-fitting light blue shirt. He, indeed, needed a change of clothing. The former Kumi Municipality MP then first went to his hotel room and freshened up, before be resumed his tour around town, this time in his vehicle. The procession kept growing in size. At about 6.30pm, DPC Rutagira decided it was time to call it a day. 

Plumes of teargas covered huge sections of the city and the procession soon disappeared. 

When Mr Amuriat retreated for the night, he took stock of his troops and realised one member of his entourage – his mechanic Nasur Basalirwa – had been arrested in the fracas and spent Wednesday night in the cells of Mbarara Central Police Station. 

So on Thursday morning, Mr Amuriat had as his first activity to get Mr Basalirwa out of police custody. He camped at the police station on Thursday morning, demanding the release of Mr Basalirwa. 

Standoff over mechanic
He told Mr Rutagira that he could not proceed on the campaign trail until his mechanic was released because he was not sure his motorcade would be okay.

Mr Rutagira, on the other hand, asked Mr Amuriat to identify the boda boda rider who had ferried him the previous day. Mr Amuriat said he did not know the boda boda rider and had only hitched a ride with him. 

After hours of haggling, the police released Mr Basalirwa at around 11.30am on Thursday, and Mr Amuriat proceeded on his trip to Sheema, where he started his campaign activities at around midday.

That was very late going by how he has been operating since the campaigns kicked off. 

And Friday was another day. The presidential candidate was already on the road from his hotel in Mbarara City to Rubirizi, Bushenyi and Buhweju districts. At about 8.30am, as he entered Rubirizi District, the police had mounted a roadblock. 

This time it was not about redirecting him to a dirty road. Mr Amuriat was informed that he was under arrest and would be driven back to Mbarara Central Police Station. After some hesitation and haggling, he was shoved into a police pick-up truck and driven off. He was still at the station by the time of filing this report yesterday afternoon.

Background...What Amuriat, police say
Before he was ushered inside the police station, Mr Amuriat told journalists that he had not committed any crime, saying his arrest was only intended to delay his campaigns.

“My suspicion is that they did not want us to campaign in Bushenyi and Rubirizi. They decided to block the road at a point where we had no alternative and then caused an arrest over really nothing. I see this as a delaying tactic and stopping us from reaching the people,” he said.

He added: “This, by itself, is a strong statement that oppression is still very much alive in our country and that President Museveni is not interested in democratic process. He will use the instruments of cohesion to hold back whichever opponent he thinks is a threat to him. And I think this will continue going on like this. I am not surprised and shaken in any case.”

Mr Amuriat said he would continue from where he ended with his rallies once released, saying he was waiting for police to describe to him the charges they would prefer against him.

“I am a fighter. I am not going to be intimidated by anyone for whatever reason. I am going to be on the trail after here even if they keep me here for 10 days. I encourage my colleagues who are in the struggle not to stop. I would be unhappy if anyone stopped the struggle on count of my arrest,” Mr Amuriat said.

By press time, Mr Samson Kasasira, the Rwizi region police spokesperson, said Mr Amuriat had declined to record a statement and police was still awaiting for a way forward from the resident state attorney.

“We are charging Mr Amuriat for disobeying police orders when he refused to be guided by the police on the routes he was supposed use to access his venue and he decided to use feeder roads on boda boda to access Mbarara City centre, where he disorganized business. This also led to the DPC’s falling down. Much as he did not sustain much injuries, we cannot take it lightly,” Mr Kasasira said.

“If the resident state attorney sanctions the file today (yesterday), he will be taken to court and when the file is not sanctioned, we shall retain him here. We do not also take away the possibility that he might get bail,” he added.

He said they are still hunting for the boda boda cyclist who “knocked” the DPC.

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