Case in which govt was sued for parading "bijambiya" suspect flops
Hearing of the case in which a 43-year old security guard dragged government to court over arbitrary arrest during the wave of bijambiya (panga) attacks has flopped.
Grace Bukenya, a former security supervisor at New Nana hostel in Makerere was last year arrested by Old Kampala Police led by the DPC Charles Nsaba before being detained at the dreaded Nalufenya detention centre in Jinja district.
On Thursday, for the second time, the Attorney General’s office failed to send a representative leading to the adjournment of the case.
“There is no representative from the Attorney General but we ask that the matter to be heard ex-parte since we already have a witness in court,” lawyer Caroline Namara asked court on Thursday.
She said despite serving the Attorney General with all the necessary documents, they have failed to respond to them in regards to the matter.
However, in reply, Justice Henrietta Wolayo declined to grant the request but requested that the Attorney General be given a last chance before adjourning the matter to March 21.
The case
In his affidavit, Bukenya says that on April 19, 2017 while carrying out his duties as a security supervisor at New Nana hotel, he was arrested by a contingent of over 30 policemen commanded by Old Kampala DPC, Charles Nsaba.
“On arrest, I was not informed of the reason for the arrest neither was I allowed to inform my relatives and lawyer,”Bukenya says in his affidavit.
[embed]https://nilepost.co.ug/2018/05/03/one-victims-ordeal-at-the-dreaded-nalufenya-prison/[/embed]
He adds that he was later detained at the Central Police Station.
Paraded to press
In his affidavit, Bukenya says he was on the fourth day paraded before the media by the then Inspector General of Police, Gen.Kale Kayihura as the leader of the machete wielding gang terrorising areas of Masaka.
He says he was later detained at Nalufenya police station in Jinja district.
In his suit, Bukenya wants the Civil Division of the High Court to declare that his arrest was arbitrary and that his detention above the mandatory 48 hours was illegal and violates the constitution.
“A declaration that the framing of the plaintiff that he was the leader of bijambiya gang was an abuse of the legal process and an order that the defendant pays both compensatory and punitive damages to the plaintiff,” says in his suit.
