Winnie Banyima, the Oxfam boss and wife to former presidential candidate Dr Kizza Besigye, has called on citizens to team up and force police off her Kasangati home.
“It’s 2am I arrive at our home and I can’t drive past a barricade, 4 policemen r sleeping! Is this my home?” wondered Winnie on her return home at the weekend. “Once again @IGPUGANDA lawless arrogant police are blocking me from entering my home. Even this will end,” she tweeted yesterday.
And now the fiery Byanyima has called on the masses to enforce the court order.
“If @IGPUGANDA lawless arrogant police is still here tomorrow, join me 2whip them out! Citizens defend constitution. Citizens can defend their constitution, in this case force police off our farm. Constitution empowers us 2 do so,” Ms Byanyima tweeted today, giving the police a one day ultimatum.
According to Ms Byanyima, police had blocked the road leading to her house, a common occurrence since the contested presidential elections in February this year, in which her husband vied for presidency against incumbent President Yoweri Museveni.
All this, despite earlier court orders, ordering police off the Besigyes home, which the police had vacated some time back left only to return a few days later.
Meanwhile, the Kasangati court magistrate Prossy Katushabe has issued another court order, telling police to vacate Dr Besigye’s home.
According Ms Katushabe, the police’s detention of Besigye at his home had been lawful at first, but ‘it subsequently advanced into something else’ hence this application.
“The applicant (Besigye) was detained in a place not authorized by law that is his home and further detained for more than 48 hours without being produced in court by the Respondents. The Constitution of Uganda under Article 20 sets a new threshold for all organs of the State and Agencies and all persons to uphold and promote the fundamental rights and freedoms set forth in the Constitution,” she wrote.
The magistrate added: “Thus from the foregoing reasons, I find that the Applicants was unlawfully detained and in a place that is not authorized by law thus contravening the various Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda. In conclusion the issue is resolved in the affirmative and the application is allowed.”
However, in spite of the ruling which was made last week, police has remained present at the home, blocking Besigye from leaving on several occasions and sometimes barring his visitors from getting in.
However, the Police told media that they haven’t been served with the order yet.
