Kyagulanyi sues govt over army raid on NUP offices

Mr Robert Kyagulanyi, aka Bobi Wine, has sued government for the indefinite closure of his party offices by security personnel in the aftermath of the January 14 general elections.

Mr Kyagulanyi, a musician-turned-politician, sued the Chief of Defence Forces (CDF), Gen David Muhoozi, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr Martins Okoth Ochola, Mr Moses Kafeero, the Commissioner of Police, and Attorney General (AG).

He filed the suit together with the National Unity Platform (NUP) party secretary general, Mr David Lewis Rubongoya, and the spokesperson, Mr Joel Ssenyonyi, on Wednesday.

In the suit, Mr Kyagulanyi says he is seeking: “a declaration that the actions of the officers directly under the control of Gen Muhoozi, Mr Okoth Ochola, Mr Kafeero and the Attorney General in closing and blocking access indefinitely to the offices of the applicants (Mr Kyagulanyi and group) on January 16 to date, constitutes an infringement on the right to freedom of association.” 

Mr Kyagulanyi contends that on January 16, the army, police and Local Defence Unit (LDU) personnel illegally raided and surrounded NUP headquarters in Kamwokya, Kampala.

He adds that during the raid, he was put under house arrest and could not move out to assess the situation.

“Following a court order, the security agencies were ordered to vacate my premises and as such, I had an opportunity to move to the party headquarters where I was blocked and denied access to the offices by UPDF, LDUs and police,” he states.

He added: “I sought an explanation as to why our party offices were under siege but got no response from the security personnel deployed. I sought to establish from the officers if there was any legal basis or court order on which they were acting upon, but I didn’t get any response from them.”

By press time, court had not summoned the security commanders and AG to file their defence.