Report By Leo Odera Omolo.
THE UGANDAN Opposition party leader Dr.Kizza Basigye last Thursday was confronted by a man armed with a loaded pistol as he addressed a public really in Buganda region. Dr Basigye escaped unhurt. The incident occurred at Maddu in Gomba County, Mpigi district at about 6.30 pm while he was addressing a huge crowd.
He told newsmen in Kampala that he had earlier addressed a series of meetings with his party officials in the region. It was almost getting dark when he rushed to Maddu trading center where a huge crowd had waited for the meeting from several hours from 3.p.m. Basigye, who is the presidential aspirant in the next year’s general election in Uganda, heads the Forum for Democratic Change {FDC}.
“I was addressing the rally from the open-roof of my car. All of a sudden a man sprung out of the crowd and jumped onto my vehicle bonnet. The man shouted, ‘You are under arrest.’ “, said Basigye. He said the attacker grabbed him and tried to strangle him by the neck. But he managed to push the guy away from the vehicle. The assailant pulled the candidate’s shirt and tore it. But with the help of his aides, the attacke was pushed down. During the scuffle that followed a pistol fell from the attacker’s trousers to the ground. Then some unknown person picked up the weapon and dashed away with it.
Speaking to journalists while flanked by his party officials, Basigye stated that the scuffle started after some heckling around his vehicle. Afterward, he said, he had briefed his party officials in the area to cooperate with the police in their investigations of the matter. He alleged that attack was planned and accused the police for not taking any action, though they were present
“There was a well orchestrated plan to attack us and perhaps injure all of us. The enthusiastic crowd saved us as the police who were present watched helplessly,” Basigye said. He added that his convoy of vehicles was hotly pursued by unknown people. They later hurled stones at the car which belonged to the FDC shadow Foreign Affairs spokesman Makuluzi Kibuuka. This left the windscreen smashed and its occupants slightly injured.
Asked whether he had reported the matter to the police, Dr. Basigye retorted, ”It was useless to reported the incident to the police, because even some officers who were present as the incident occurred only watched it from a distant and did not intervene or assisted us in anyway.
The police spokesman for the central region, Mreck Kigoizi, confirmed the incident took place, saying the attacker was being held at the Maddu Police Station.
“Yes the incident transpired after some people from the crowd verbaly attacked Basigye over his utterances and claims about the issue of selling Lake Kyoga”, Kigozi told the NEWVISION. “The crowd later turned rowdy and one man identified as John Bisaso jumped onto Basigye’s car bonnet in protest of the utterances.”
Contacted by phone, Mpigi police commander Justus Asimue also confirmed the incident. He said one man, John Bisaso, later presented himself to the police as a peasant from Maddu Gomba. He noted that the police officers have been deployed in the area to investigate the incident.
Some eye witnesses said the attack came after the Opposition leader had spoken furiously about the alleged selling of Lake Kyoga, and said the remark had annoyed them.
Ends
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