{UAH} Encounter with masked man leaves Besigye sleepless

Encounter with masked man leaves Besigye sleepless

I came to town of course unnoticed and only got exposed at around Namirembe Road, the road leading to the New Taxi Park, because I had to change vehicles there. I was getting into my vehicle which they knew

Before I was arrested [on May 11], I came to town of course unnoticed and only got exposed at around Namirembe Road, the road leading to the New Taxi Park, because I had to change vehicles there. I was getting into my vehicle which they knew.

It was during the change of vehicles that the public noticed me and started to gather around and welcome me because they had known I was incarcerated at home [in Kasangati, Wakiso District] for some time and police, [IGP] Mr Kale Kayihura particularly, had been swearing that I cannot go out. So people were excited to see me.

I then drove on that Namirembe Road towards the centre of town. Just towards the Mini Bata shop was where the police obstructed me and many people gathered. The usual scenes by the police ensued; bringing the armoured vehicles, more patrol vehicles, more policemen and beating of people. Shortly after, they towed my vehicle and they quite clearly didn't seem to know where to take me.

I heard some saying we go to the [Kampala] Central Police Station, others proposed Kira Division, and others said we go straight to Nagalama.

It is difficult to know who was in command because there was this fellow called [Aaron] Baguma from CPS, and then came some more senior officers I don't know. But there are many people in civilian clothes who seem to have more authority than those in uniform.

Anyhow, they towed me through Nakasero to Kitante to Yusuf Lule then through Acacia, Upper Kololo Terrace where along the terrace the winch broke. Frankly, I could have driven off from them and they would have had to chase me, but I am always conscious of the responsibility my driver has. So, I got out of my vehicle to hand myself over to them and see what they wanted to do.

I opened the vehicle, but as soon as I opened, as usual they appeared like they had captured me. They grabbed me roughly, lifted me, dragged me to their vehicle and then the speeding started. We went up to Kira Road Police Station and they even tried to open the door, but there was an obstacle at the entrance. Then some orders came saying 'no, go to Kira Division.' So we drove there.

Along the way, others said go to Nagalama. But as we approached Kira, they said continue. That is when I started hearing of Jinja. The convoy had about five patrols and one mamba, the armoured vehicle.

We then drove back towards the Northern Bypass and they stopped. We spent a bit of time parked, I think there were negotiations. Eventually, off to Jinja we went and the trip was uneventful. We went straight to Nalufenya.

This was my first time to get to the detention centre which is by the Nile. It is a very secluded police station; it seems to be largely under the command of Counter Terrorism Police. When we got to the station, I was ordered out of the van, asked to remove my shoes, belt, they searched my body and pockets and ordered me into the cell.

In the cell where I was put, there was only one person from Bukedea District who had been transferred there from Soroti. He was suspected to have been involved in a murder of someone related to an MP, I think an MP who had been freshly elected. This fellow had been in detention for some months.

He told me how he was arrested in relation to the murder of an old lady he was staying with and he was believed to have conspired with those who murdered her.

While I was settling in, they [police officers] came back and ordered me out of the cell. We went to the counter and they brought my shoes. This was possibly around 4:30pm. I was there possibly for only an hour.

This particular police station has gained notoriety as the poster child of the most flagrant and senseless human rights violations meted out by members of the security agencies against fellow citizens.

One reads and hears stories of torture in this detention facility, never mind the irony that comes with its location a spitting distance away from the wonderfully beautiful River Nile.

Already as one approaches it, the images of torture form in their mind, the tragedy of human suffering visited on fellow citizens by those who defile the sanctity of the uniform they are privileged and should be honoured to wear pace about the mind. At once one gets even closer to the tragedy of the dictatorship we continue to grapple with as a nation.

Interestingly, I had arrived there without being handcuffed. But when I got out of the cell they put handcuffs on me and I wondered whether I had become more dangerous.

I didn't know what was happening. They put me back to the van and we drove to the airfield which is not far from Nalufenya. It is located just as you are getting to Jinja Town, at the first roundabout you turn left. It is about 200 yards from there.

We found a helicopter parked there and a number of policemen bouncing and pacing about, some in uniform and others in plain clothing.

The aircraft was manned by two crew members, both bazungu (Whites). I don't know from where, maybe Italian. There was real exchange there about who should enter the helicopter apart from me.
Some entered and were thrown out. They forced their way and were dragged out immediately. So there was a scuffle of who should be in the helicopter, the basis of which I didn't understand. That took a bit of time. Telephone calls were flying left and right.

Eventually, the officer in charge of that black van, someone from CID, actually a senior superintendent of police who was in civilian clothing and two guards sat in. The pilots got their guns from them [police], removed ammunition and stored it separately. Actually the pilots asserted themselves about what should happen in the aircraft. So we took off.

Airborne
I didn't know where we were going at all, let alone the reason I was held. I just kept on watching the direction. I knew we were heading somewhere in the east.
It was not clear to me because we were just flying, we flew over that Busoga area that is covered with sugar cane then we went into a more arid area and eventually landed at Soroti airfield.

Having landed, I knew I was being taken to, maybe, the prison in Soroti. But there was no attempt to get us out of the aircraft.

Eventually, some people came and started fuelling the helicopter and we took off again. The flight from Soroti to Moroto is not a long one. They still hadn't told me where we were going. But once we left Soroti, it was fairly clear to me that we were heading to Karamoja. I started seeing the Karamoja hills, so I knew it would be either Moroto or Kotido.

We landed at Moroto airfield some time towards 7pm. It was beginning to get dark and there were cars waiting at the airfield.

I was immediately removed from the aircraft, put in a police vehicle and we took off. Though there is no traffic jam in Moroto, they were busy with the sirens and driving at break-neck speed that gave the impression that they had a top internationally wanted person in their custody.

I find the overzealousness of some of these officers rather incomprehensible, the projection of power quite strange and the exercise of it even more intriguing. To hazard a guess this possibly served to alert the Moroto population that somebody has arrived in their area.
They drove to Moroto Central Police Station and there they removed my items which had been given back to me at Nalufenya. They opened the cell there and I entered. It was now 7pm.

Speed of communication
Happily, shortly after I had arrived, our leaders in Moroto arrived at the police station to see if it was me who had been brought.

It is unbelievable the kind of communication there is now. When I had been arrested in Kampala they had received the news immediately on TV or something that I had been arrested and was being taken to the east in Jinja.

Later when I was removed from Nalufenya and flown, some of our people who had been following traced where we had gone. I think there was communication on the radio. But according to them, when they saw a helicopter arriving, the police activity and sirens, they suspected that it was me they had brought. So they came to find out. I am sure they also have friends in the Moroto police.

They were allowed to come in and see and bring me food. Of course I hadn't had anything since morning, so it was very welcome that I could have some food.

Yes, I trusted them because I know some of the leaders personally and I even have relatives in Moroto. One of my cousins is married there and so I have nephews and in-laws, but also our FDC leadership is there and vibrant. Our party structures stretch to every corner of this country.
So I was able to get food. They brought me a small mattress and blanket and I was comfortable in the cell. But the comfort could only be short lived. I eventually began to worry.

It hadn't occurred to me at this stage that I was the only human being in all the cells of the CPS and that shortly before I arrived, all the prisoners in the police station were evacuated and taken to other police stations or [police] posts around Moroto. So I was the only prisoner and that night was really uneventful.

I was very tired of course, so I slept peacefully and there was no disturbance. There was electricity so there was light through the night.
The following day, the CID people whom I travelled with on the aircraft invited me to find out whether I can make a statement. I told them I wouldn't make any statement and that they can go ahead and take me to court. But nothing happened after that.
Our people were bringing me meals, so I was comfortable. I would have breakfast, lunch and dinner.

But it was during the course of the day that I learnt that I was the only person in the cells and secondly that the guard detail around the cells was counter terrorism guards specially brought overnight from Kampala. They were the only ones manning the cells.

Overnight, there had been a fundamental change in the guard detail of the police station and that stretched to evacuation of all suspects in detention. The strangeness of this development did not register in my mind immediately until a few hours later when the dots started to connect.

The day was uneventful. I stayed in my cell. In the evening, it was clear that there was no power so after I had had my dinner at around 6:30pm, I asked those colleagues of ours to get me a torch since there was no power. I was concerned about the lack of power and inquired if this was normal.

They said they hadn't lacked power and they too found it strange that on this particular day there was no electricity.

When our supporters brought me the torch, I returned to the cell. After entering the cell, I realised that the door leading to the cells from outside had been left open. There is a row of cells, each with its door but there is the entrance to the cells, where you enter into a corridor to the cells and it was that door that was open.

The door to the cell just has bars, so it is open to the corridor. Whoever is in the corridor has access to the cell as it is only separated by the bars. So when I noticed the door to the cells was open I got concerned and called the guards to inquire why it was open.
They told me the district police commander had ordered them to leave it open. That raised my antenna even more because the first night I was there it was closed and there was light. Then now there is darkness and you want the door leading to the cells open. This intrigued, but also worried me more.

I asked the police officers to call the DPC so I could have a chat with him to allay my fears by way of an explanation. They took quite some time before returning to me. I called again and they said the DPC would come.

After another 30 minutes or so of waiting, an officer from the Counter Terrorism Police came and asked me what was wrong. I expressed my concern over the door being left open on the day there was no light in the cells.

He said it would be closed and so it was locked. I returned to my cell then sometime in the middle of the night, the regional police commander came to see me. When they opened the door to the outside, it made noise, which I was interested in always.

Then he came and greeted me. He had a torch. He said he had only come to check on me. I told him I was alright and had no problem. He wished me a goodnight and left the cell. That was around midnight.

I suspect when he got out, because I heard the door being closed, I was mistaken that it had been locked. They must have closed and opened it and that is because sometime later, maybe two hours later – 2am to be precise – I heard some movements outside my cell.
I got concerned, got out and flashed my torch. One of those black-clothed people rushed out and that is when I realised the door was open.

But what worried me, which I have been concerned about most to this day, was that that fellow had a mask on his face covering his nose, eyes, and mouth.
I have never understood why a guard outside the police cell would wear a mask, stealthily come to the cell through a door that there was no reason to open and whose being left open I had complained about."

Continues next Sunday

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Allaah gives the best to those who leave the choice to Him."And if Allah touches you with harm, none can remove it but He, and if He touches you with good, then He is Able to do all things." (6:17)

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