Who will ‘police the police’ is the question on many people’s lips as several people bay for the blood of a senior police officer accused of complicity in murder?
Opposition Forum for Democratic Change leader Dr Warren Kizza Besigye seems to have an answer; the four-time presidential challenger has called upon Ugandans to stand up for their rights and arrest Superintendent of Police (SP) Aaron Baguma, who is wanted by court in connection with the murder of city businesswoman Donah Katushabe.
And Dr Besigye’s clarion call to Ugandans comes in the wake of police failing to produce SP Baguma, a former District Police Commander (DPC) at the Central Police Station in Kampala, who has since become rarified specie, holed up at a police training college on the outskirts of Kampala city, a place where he was loathed and respected in equal measure.
“Since the police has neglected the directives of another arm of government (judiciary), the citizens of Uganda can now take up the matter and arrest Baguma; in any case, the case is Uganda versus Baguma,” Dr Besigye said of Baguma’s case that has elicited a lot of anxiety since the killing of Ms Katushabe in 2015.
He added: “It is a very silly precedent, people who should be in law enforcement are the ones breaking it and this means that the State is a failure.”
Ms Katushabe was reportedly killed by a group of people led by city businessman Muhammad Sebuwufu, a dealer in second hand cars and owner of Pine car bond on Lumumba Road, after the deceased failed to clear a debt of Shs9 million.
Following the killing, Katushabe’s relatives swung into action and ensured Sebuwufu was arrested and remanded to Luzira prison. However, Baguma, most probably using his powerful connections and influence, has since evaded arrest, prompting Katushabe’s relatives to protest to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Mike Chibita wa Duallo, who in turn wrote to the police asking them to ensure Baguma faces the law. But in the midst of all the hullabaloo, police chief General Kale Kayihura reshuffled his officers in the Kampala Metropolitan Police (KMP) area, in the process sending Baguma for a six-month ‘refresher’ course at the Police Senior Command and Staff College (PSCSC), Bwebajja, along Entebbe Road.
Meanwhile, as the behind-the-scenes cat and mouse game ensued the judiciary set in motion, summoning Baguma to the Buganda Road magistrate’s court, which he has failed to do. And today, the court issued an arrest warrant for the now elusive police officer.
By press time, the Eagleonline was not able to establish whether the police would react to Baguma’s arrest warrant, or whether the force would wait for option ‘B’, Dr Besigye’s call to citizens to arrest Baguma.
