Residents threaten to poison police officers enforcing curfew, accuse them of drinking their waragi, eating their chapatis

Residents of Kamonkoli and Mugiti sub-counties in Budaka district have threatened to poison police officers enforcing a curfew.

President Museveni in his address on June 18, while instituting a 42-day national lockdown to check on the spread of the second wave of Covid-19 revived curfew time downwards from 9 pm to 7 pm up to 5:30 am.

The residents accuse police officers enforcing curfew of drinking their waragi which they find in different shops and devouring chapatis left behind on different stalls after dispersing them.

The angry residents voiced their clandestine move of using poison to eliminate errant officers of security through the district deputy speaker Mohamad Mboizi during the sub-county district task force meeting.

Article 22(1) and (2) States that no person shall be deprived of life intentionally except in the execution of a sentence passed in a fair trial by the court of competent jurisdiction in respect of criminal offense under the law of Uganda and the conviction and sentence have been confirmed by the highest appellate court.

On Monday Mr. Tom Chesol the RDC appointed 20 members of the district task force to chair meetings at all the 20 sub-counties across the district and later report to him the findings.

According to the RDC, the meetings were intended to follow up and revive the functionality of the dormant sub-county and village task forces in an attempt to combat the covid 19 pandemic which has robbed the lives of many.

However, most of the reports presented yesterday during the district task force meeting implicated police officers for using excessive force and turning the pandemic into a money-making venture.

Police manning the checkpoints were not only accused of extorting money from patients, pedestrians, and farmers going to their garden but also pickpocketing victims while in dark spots and threaten them never to report them to the police station.

It was also reported that in Nansanga sub-county, police officers broke into one house and stole some jerricans full of crude waragi during broad daylight only to return the jerricans when the owner threatened to report them.

The disgruntled residents say they have made these complaints to RDC, RPC, DPC, and other security officers but nothing has been done instead the situation is just worsening

While reacting to the accusations, ASP Edison Muvunye the officer in charge of Budaka CPS who had represented the DPC acknowledged receiving such reports but faulted the locals for not providing sufficient evidence of such scandalous actions to the relevant authorities.

He did not rule out the fact that there are some unprofessional individuals ruining the force’s image.

RDC however, appealed to the residents to desist from taking the law into their hands and urged police officers to exhibit professionalism during the course of their work.

He noted with concern that men in uniform especially the military are top violators of the presidential directives and directed the officers manning the checkpoints to arrest all military officers.

On the same meeting, the RDC received a donation of 5 million shillings’ cash from John 4:14 an NGO operating in the district towards supporting the Covid 19 activities in the district.