Police has commended senior superintendent of police (SSP) Rashid Agero, who, nearly swashed away Dr Kizza Besigye unto the tarmac for a job well done.
On Monday last week, police directed a highly pressurised water cannon at Besigye who was waving to supporters in Kireka from the top of his vehicle's open roof. The pressure of the cannon nearly swept Besigye away - with the police force coming under heavy criticism for its now seemingly standard highhandedness against dissenting voices. In command of the operation was SSP Agero who also smashed down Besigye's windscreen using a gun and ordered for Besigye to be pepper-sprayed so as to force him out of the vehicle.
Despite the criticism and calls for action against Agero by among others; speaker of parliament Rebecca Kadaga, Catholic bishops, human right activists, police has instead patted him on the back and said there is no need to prosecute any officer in operation on the said date. According to police whatever they did was within the law and a standard operations procedure of handling riotous crowds.
Police spokesperson, Fred Enanga, said what Besigye got he fully deserved because he adamantly parked in the middle of road disrupting traffic flow, especially at Spear Motors junction. Police says all engagements with Besigye hit a snag and available measures had to be used to clear the road to allow the smooth movement of other road users.
To God be the glory. @kizzabesigye1 survived death by a whisker at the hands of the @PoliceUg. This is a narrow escape. We give thanks to the Lord that the unwanted didn't happen. Let's behave better as the election calendar runs faster to 2021.@NRMOnline @FDCOfficial1 @UgandaEc pic.twitter.com/9lOJDLNncG
— Sir Simon Muyanga Lutaaya (@muyangalutaaya) November 4, 2019
Addressing the media, a day after the incident, Besigye said he was only saved by people inside his car that held his legs because the cannon was going to wash him away. Enanga said the Anti-riot police also known as Field Force Police used the well-known measures to deal with defiant people. These measures, according to Enanga, include breaking car glasses, windows or doors to gain access or enter a house, a car to remove or arrest a person deemed a threat.
"There was heavy disruption of traffic for three hours just because of the defiant Besigye," Enanga said.
Police said whatever happened Besigye had already been planned for it in advance, a reason he had reportedly removed hooks from his motor vehicle thus it could not be towed away. Besigye was heading to a function organised at Namboole stadium but police blocked the venue insisting that the stadium was under renovation. Enanga said Kira Municipality MP, Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda and FDC president Patrick Oboi Amuriat, obeyed police’s guidance but Besigye refused.
The brutal arrest of Besigye and FDC members was condemned by human rights bodies and activists to know if the multi-party system was still viable since other political parties are not allowed to conduct their activities.
Besigye and other FDC members have since started a campaign to raise one million signatures from Ugandans to have President Museveni and other security officers dragged to International Criminal Court based at Hague in the Netherlands.