Detained Kyadondo East legislator, Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu alias Bobi Wine has said he will not relinquish despite the situation he is apparently undergoing.
The singer made the statements while narrating his ordeal to a group that included; family members, Human Rights Commission officers, and lawyers that had paid him a visit at his detention wing in Makindye military barracks.
According to Kyagulanyi, on the day he was arrested, officers attached to the president’s elite force broke into his hotel room, and on seeing them, he jumped off his bed, knelt down and raised hands up in surrender.
However, the group pounded on his, hit him with a metallic rod on the head, rolled a blanket around him and pummelled him continuously to black out point.
Kyagulanyi says that he only regained conscious when at a detention cell (Arua airfield) and he could tell he was being injected with a substance not known to him.
Family members including; his wife Barbara Itungo Kyagulanyi, brother Eddie Yawe as well as lawyers led by Erias Lukwago and Uganda Human Rights officials led by Med Kaggwa, ascertain that the singer was battered upon arrest and is in bad shape.
However, while speaking to Nile Post, Eddie Yawe said Bobi Wine managed to mumble a few words regarding his situation and next course of action.
“I am going to continue with the struggle and none of us should give up,” he said.
According to Yawe, the singer encouraged all believers in his ideology and struggle to carry it forward no matter what befalls him.
Bobi Wine’s wife Barbie Kyagulanyi also reiterated Bobi Wine’s message of resolve.
“His resolve has not diminished. His bones have been broken, but his spirit has not been crushed. He is still the husband I met many years ago. He knows that he is innocent of all that he is being accused of. His only crime is standing for justice and for trying to speak for the common person,” Ms Kaygulanyi said.
“He was surprised when we told him that he is accused of possessing firearms- he was hearing about this for the first time. Instead, the soldiers who arrested him took away his wallet and the money he had on him. He wonders why he is being tried by military courts! But he knows that this is part of the price he has to pay for what he believes in. He asks Ugandans to remain firm, even in the face of such repression,” she added.
They both called upon government to grant Bobi Wine the right medical attention, expressing fear that his condition is worrying and could be life threatening.
“Our doctor was not allowed to examine him; our request is that he is urgently allowed to access his doctors so that he gets the much needed medical attention. Especially since he highly suspects that he underwent internal bleeding,” they said.
‘Did we win the election?’ Bobi Wine’s first statement to family, lawyers
In contradiction however, Uganda Human Rights Commission officials affirmed that the singer had appreciated the current treatment being given by the army that has him in custody.
Brigadier Richard Karemire, the UPDF spokesperson, says that the army is committed to treating Kyagulanyi of the injuries he sustained from chaos in Arua.
He says Kyagulanyi will be treated by the UPDF medical team and if they recommend that he should be transferred or given specific treatment out of the military facility reach, the army will not object.
“If he says he has a headache, we will treat him, if he says my chest is paining we will treat that, but if we cannot handle, then the doctors will recommend appropriately,” Karemire said.
“For whatever condition Hon Kyagulanyi may be in as a result of the whole ARUA fracas, UPDF will ensure he receives adequate attention and care now that he is under its safe custody. His family also will be able to visit him as per established procedure,” he added.
‘Did we win the election?’ Bobi Wine’s first statement to family, lawyers
Discussion about this post