National Unity Platform (NUP) has told parliament that its presidential candidate in the 2021 election, Robert Kyagulanyi Sentamu aka Bobi Wine cheated death on 3 times during the campaigns.
The Party made the claims in a voluminous report that it handed to Parliament’s Human Rights Committee on Wednesday March 31, 2021.
NUP Secretary General David Lewis Rubongoya told legislators that the most appalling attempt at Bobi Wine’s life occurred while he campaigned in Jinja District.
“Whereas Hon. Kyagulanyi survived more than three assassination attempts during his presidential campaign, the most shocking of them happened on 1st December 2020 when the vehicle in which he was travelling with NUPs Hon. Francis Zaake was sprayed with bullets by military officers,” Rubongoya narrated.
“The military officers opened fire onto the vehicle that shattered its wind screen and flattened its tyres. The bullets narrowly missed Honourable Kyagulanyi, Hon Zaake and their driver.”
This he said was the reason that Bobi Wine started wearing a bulletproof vest and ballistic helmet.
Besides, Rubongoya said many of NUP supporters were injured and others killed by security.
“For instance on the 28th of December Hon Kyagulanyi’s bodyguard Francis Ssenteza Kalibala was murdered when a military truck deliberately run over him at Busega roundabout on the outskirts of Kampala as Hon Kyagulanyi’s team rushed another injured journalist Ashraf Kasirye to Hospital,” he revealed.
It should be noted however, that in the wake of this incident, Army Spokesperson Flavia Byekwaso refuted these allegations insisting that Kalibala fell from a moving vehicle.
Rubongoya also protested the illegal detention and trial of Kyagulanyi’s 100 man strong campaign team which was arrested in Kalangala District on December 30, 2021.
“They were detained without trial for 4 days before they were eventually arraigned before the military court. During proceedings many of them including Kampala Lookman who is our camera person, Kyuma, Ntegge and others reported that they had been tortured and bore physical torture marks,” he retorted.
“The others including nine of them were detained at Kasajagirwa Military barracks in Masaka and really the violations conducted on them were horrible. Forced to put off their clothes while pictures were being taken, forced to frog march every morning and other forms of interrogation,” Rubongoya added.
During the hearing, Aisha Kabanda the Butambala Woman Member of Parliament urged the committee to interest themselves in the case of Ibrahim Sendagire who was allegedly shot dead at Wandegeya Police Station.
However former Interior Affairs Minister James Boliba Baba who is a member of the committee diagnosed that the unprecedented violence appears to have been triggered by systemic defects within our Politics.
“We have radicalized our politics so much that we really need to step back and reflect on it. How do we organize our politics without so much violence on either side or both sides,” Baba submitted.
Today’s hearing was also attended by Alliance for National Transformation’s (ANT) Presidential Candidate Gen. Mugisha Muntu.
Bobi Wine who is out of the country was represented by Mathias Mpuuga the NUPs Vice President for Buganda Region.
In her communication, the Committee Chairperson Agnes Wejuli Taaka disclosed that they plan to interface with Uganda Police Force (UPF); Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) but revealed they might not meet Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) as it is not fully constituted.
The programme indicates that the appendage shall tomorrow Thursday April 1, 2021 interact with independent Presidential candidates John Katumba and Fred Mwesigye.
