Police arrest UPC’s Peter Walubiri

Mr Walubiri. File photo

KAMPALA- A senior constitutional lawyer Mr Peter Walubiri who was arrested on Friday evening by the police, spent the weekend in police cells at the Special Investigations Unit in Kireka, near Kampala on allegations that he intended to harm Mr Jimmy Akena, who heads one of the  Uganda Peoples Congress faction.

According to Mr Abdu Katuntu, Mr Walubiri’s lawyer, his client was arrested at Uganda House, the seat of UPC party on Friday evening and bundled onto a police pick-up “like a chicken thief” before being driven to Kireka’s SIU.

Explaining his arrest, Mr Katuntu said that Mr Walubiri had attended a meeting of the party’s National Council at Emerald Hotel in Kampala on Friday. The meeting had been convened by the Olara Otunnu faction.

He explained that the police then stormed the meeting and dispersed it.

 Mr Katuntu added that Mr Walubiri in his capacity as the chairman of Milton Obote Foundation, alongside former Oyam South MP Issa Otto, decided to go to Uganda House where offices of Milton Obote Foundation are located to organise money to refund delegates who had travelled to Kampala for the National Council meeting.

 “It’s at this point that the police arrested Mr Walubiri and Mr Otto on allegations that they were going to harm Mr Akena and they bundled them on their pick-up like they were thugs and drove them to Kireka’s SIU, ” Mr Katuntu said.

He said: “Arresting a very senior lawyer in the country in such a manner is sickening and I don’t want to add anything more to that.”

He said Mr Walubiri is being questioned for trying to harm Mr Akena who was not even at Uganda House at that time.

“He has made a statement and we are waiting for the powers tomorrow (today) if he can be released,” Mr Katuntu said.

Mr Walubiri is one of the lawyers who represented Dr Kizza Besigye in his 2006 presidential election petition against President Museveni.

UPC party has been engulfed in leadership wrangles between Mr Akena, the son of the party’s founding president Milton Obote and Ambassador Otunnu.