Journalist sues Maj.Gen.Matayo Kyaligonza for assaulting him

Before the dust for assaulting a female traffic officer fully settles, another person has come out accusing the Ugandan Ambassador to Burundi Maj.Gen.Matayo Kyaligonza of assaulting him.

Peter Otai, a journalist with Uganda Broacasting Corporation (UBC) says on the fateful day of February 24 while at a Centenary Bank ATM located at KOBIL petrol station in Seeta town, he witnesses a police officer being assaulted by Kyaligonza and tried to intervene.

“As a journalist and concerned citizen, the second applicant (Otai) run to the scene and demanded to know from the first respondent (Kyaligonza) why his guards including Corporal Peter Bushindiki and Priv. Robert Okurut were assaulting a female police officer on duty . At the same time, he begun taking photos of the situation for purposes of filing a press story later about the incident,” the court documents read.

“No sooner had he started taking photos, than Kyaligonza and his bodyguards pounced and beat him.”

According to Otai, the beating infringed on his constitutional rights both as a journalist and as a citizen and also undermines the independence of the media.

He also contends that the beating threatens the hallowed tenets of accountability and good governance in Uganda.

“The respondents are commanded by Article 202 and 212 of the 1995 constitution to observe, respect, uphold, protect and promote fundamental human rights and freedoms but their impugned actions fell short of the said obligations,” the journalist says in a suit in which the Attorney General is part of the respondents.

Otai now wants to declare the actions by Kyaligonza that included physically and verbally assaulting while executing his journalistic work infringed his rights.

He also wants the respondents to compensate him to a tune of shs340 million as damages for their barbaric actions.

“As a diplomat, Kyaligonza is especially charged with advancing Uganda’s foreign policy objectives including respect for international law regarding human rights in general and press freedoms in particular but he fell short of this.”

Otai adds, “If this court does not check on the excesses of the state and individual security operatives, I and other journalists risk losing their lives, jobs and careers at the hands of those ought to protect them.”

Kyaligonza and his two military police guards were last month captured in a video clip that went viral assaulting Sgt. Esther Namaganda for stopping them from making a U- turn in the middle of the road in Seeta.

Members of Parliament later declared the Ugandan Ambassador to Burundi a disgrace to the army and country at large over his actions towards a traffic police officer.

“An Ambassador should be an epitome of courtesy and empathy. Kyaligonza has shown he has not known the values of people he represents. He doesn’t even know the value that Ugandans attach to their army,” said Mitooma Woman MP Jova Kamateeka who also doubles as the Human rights committee chairperson for parliament.

“What he did was inconceivable. He should resign and we should withdraw him from being our Ambassador. He is going to cause a diplomatic row. The right thing for him to do is to resign. He should not be our ambassador any more. He must be held accountable and must compensate the officer he assaulted.”