Former Makindye West Member of Parliament Hussein Kyanjo has castigated government, saying the security apparatus in Uganda is targeting the Ugandan Muslim community for arrests.
Kyanjo, whose missive comes in the wake of a raid on the mosque near the Usafi market, says government has blamed all the killings in the recent past on Muslims. Among those killed that Kyanjo cites is the former Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIGP) Andrew Felix Kaweesi; Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Joan Kagezi and several Muslim clerics.
‘As it is today, Muslims are automatic suspects for any major crime in Uganda. The Museveni government has a long list of names including mine and others … out of which they carefully select who to arrest for some crime,’ Kyanjo, a member of JEEMA party, wrote in his three-page missive.
Further, according to Kyanjo, government is pursuing an ‘arrest first and investigate later’ approach in relation to the arrest of Muslims in Uganda.
‘The law provides that one will be presumed innocent until proved guilty. In the case of Muslims they are taken to be guilty on arrest. They are paraded before the media and some are through torture, coerced into false confessions…’ Kyanjo further wrote.
But Deputy Police Spokesperson Patrick Onyango refuted Kyanjo’s accusations, saying they were inaccurate.
“When you commit a crime, we look for you as an individual, so don’t hide behind Muslims. We target individuals who hide behind Muslims,” Onyango said on phone.
The outspoken Kyanjo, who served in the Eighth and Ninth Parliaments, was allegedly poisoned and has been undergoing treatment for about two years now.
