http://www.observer.ug/news-headlines/43032-what-did-burglars-take-away-from-mbabazi-lawyers

What did burglars take away from Mbabazi lawyers?

Written by Sadab Kitatta Kaaya

The burglars who broke into the offices of Amama Mbabazi's lawyers could have been looking for statements taken from state agents, about alleged rigging in the February 18 presidential elections, insiders have said.

Mbabazi, who came third in the elections, is challenging President Museveni's victory in the Supreme court. But on Wednesday morning, armed men broke into offices of two law firms handling his petition, Nyanzi, Kiboneka, Mbabazi & Co Advocates; and Muwema & Co Advocates and Solicitors.

Mbabazi has accused the police of breaking into the offices, a claim the police has rejected. Pressed to explain why the police would break into the lawyers' offices, well-placed sources in the Mbabazi camp say that security could have learnt that the petitioner's lawyers had, on Tuesday evening, interviewed state agents that swore statements about alleged vote rigging in the February 18 presidential election.

Fred Muwema's offices that were broken into on Wednesday morning

Sources said the witnesses were driven into Mohmed Mbabazi's chambers on Tuesday evening. According to staffers at the Buganda road-based law firm, there was an uptick in suspicious movements outside the offices after the witnesses entered.

In a chat with journalists, the staffers said the suspicious people outside the premises looked every inch security operatives. Inside the building lawyers Mohmed Mbabazi, Asuman Basalirwa, Medard Lubega Sseggona, Severino Twinobusingye, Michael Akampurira and Amama's in-law Hope Mwesigye interviewed the witnesses and drafted their affidavits.

The reported developments outside, however, unsettled the witnesses and their interviewers inside the building. Basalirwa later posted this on his Facebook wall:

"Now why is police surrounding our law firm where we are interviewing witnesses and preparing our presidential election petition case? The numbers are increasing and they [police] are taking positions. Whom do they want to arrest? Is it intended to scare away the thousands of witnesses we have been receiving since morning?"

To pre-empt police action, Mwesigye drove the witnesses away from the building. She was closely tailed by a white Super Custom van up to Amama Mbabazi's Kololo residence.

Mbabazi's camp suspects that it was these same men or their accomplices who broke into Mohmed's offices on Buganda road, and Fred Muwema's on Windsor Crescent in Kololo and carried away documents and computers.

LAWYERS TRAILED

Mohmed's chambers remained under close watch until the van that tailed Mwesigye up to her home at Kamwokya, off-Mawanda road, returned.

The lawyers kept inside the building up to around 10pm, as they suspected they had unwelcome company. Sseggona suspects security men tailed him until he decided to park at the usually-busy Wandegeya market area while Basalirwa claimed he was followed up to his home in Kawempe.

Sseggona told The Observer on Wednesday that as he left, he carried with him some of the affidavits the witnesses had signed but the bulk of them were left in the offices.

"We have about seven [law] firms handling the petition but Mohmed's firm [Nyanzi, Kiboneka, Mbabazi and Co. Advocates] is the main point where we all gather to work on [the petition]. So, if they carried away documents and computers, it means that the few I had in the car are all that we remained with," Sseggona said.

THE RAID

At about 10pm on Tuesday evening, the lawyers locked and left the premises, only to get telephone calls deep in the night announcing the break-in. A night watchman at the firm told journalists that the premises were attacked by a group of about 30 armed men who jumped over the fence.

"Some were in plain clothes and others in army and police uniform. The ones in plain clothes jumped over the fence, broke-in and carried away computers and documents while those in uniform kept guard outside," a watchman, who declined to identify himself, said.

He further claimed that when he went to report the burglary at the nearby Wandegeya police station, a cop at the station told him "not to worry" because there was a police operation in the area.

Subsequently, Mohmed preferred not to report the break-in to police, with his office suggesting that would be equivalent to reporting the police to the police.

"We are surprised that the police broke in. Maybe they were maintaining law and order in this democratic country," Mohmed said on Wednesday.

With tinge of sarcasm, Mohmed said he doubted that his office was raided by the state.

"I have my doubts because if governments such as [Idi Amin's] and [Milton] Obote's and the [Robert] Mugabes of this world have never done such a thing, I can't expect a democratic government like the one we have to do it," he said.

CRIME SCENE

Although Mohmed chose not to report the incident to police, Muwema reported his. Police subsequently cordoned off the premises. For hours, journalists camped on the side of the neighboring Metropole hotel as police detectives went about their investigation.

Muwema told journalists that the attackers went in through a hole they dug in the fence at the back of the premises, cut padlocks and broke into two lawyers' offices where they picked documents and a laptop. They picked more documents and desktop computers from the secretary's desk.

"It appears that they targeted materials and documents concerning the petition before the Supreme court because other documents that are not related to the petition were left scattered around," Muwema told journalists.

AMAMA BLOCKED

At about 1:30pm, Amama arrived but the cops at the gate refused to open for him. This was moments after they allowed Twinobusingye and Akampurira to drive in. After five minutes of waiting, Amama got out of his black V8 Land Cruiser and pleaded in vain with the cops to let him in.

"I am an interested party in this case because this firm is among those handling my petition and I have up to 5pm today [Wednesday] to file the evidence in the Supreme court," Amama told the cops.

Mbabazi later lost his cool when policemen inside the gate told him that they had orders not to allow him inside because he would interfere with the scene of crime.

"Who are you, and who gave you those orders?" Amama barked at the policemen.
"Will you allow me in?" he inquired.

Amama Mbabazi blocked from accessing Muwema's offices

Within minutes, riot-police in their full gear surrounded the place forcing Amama to drive away to Mohmed's law firm. After a brief meeting with the lawyers, Amama headed for his secretariat headquarters at Nakasero where he addressed the press.

"It is incredible coincidence that these raids were done a few hours before filing was to begin at 9am [on Wednesday]," Amama said.

"It is unheard of for lawyers' chambers [to be] raided by the state machinery. I have been around for quite a bit of time, I have seen many governments including the ones that I fought, which were dictatorships [and] I don't remember that this ever happened; not even in Idi Amin's time [because] I was a practicing lawyer then," a visibly-angry Amama said.

He said the turn of events showed that Uganda was steadily turning into a police state, with government losing its democratic credentials and getting the police to do most of the actions.

At a different press conference at the police headquarters in Naguru, assistant inspector general of police Asan Kasingye challenged the lawyers to identify any police officer who participated in the alleged break-in.

He, however, announced that Kayihura had instituted a team led by Mark Odong, the commandant of the Special Investigations division (SID), to investigate the break-ins.