Court sets hearing date for NUP office raid case

By Ruth Anderah 

The High court judge Esther Nambayo has set March 22nd to start hearing a case filed by the president of National Unity Platform party Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu challenging security actions for raiding his party offices.

This after Kyagulanyi sued the government and four security chiefs for allegedly raiding his party offices in October 2020.

Kyangulanyi together with his party sued the Attorney General jointly with the Chief of Defense Forces General David Muhoozi, Inspector General of Police Martin Okoth Ochola, Military Police Commander Keith Katungi, and Kampala Metropolitan Police Commander Moses Kafeero.

Kyangulanyi wants the court to make a declaration that the actions of raiding his party offices by more than 1000 officers directly under the control of the said officers and damaging property amounts to an infringement on their freedom of consciousness, expression, movement, assembly, and association.

He contends that on October 14th, 2020, the party headquarters located in Kamwokya were ambushed by a large number of joint security officers both plain-clothed and in uniform who blocked the entrance and looted a number of items.

The evidence before Court indicates that some security officers carried plasma cutters and started cutting the gate before forcing their way inside the premises and looted documents such as those bearing Kyagulanyi’s nomination signatures, branding materials, berets, umbrellas, fliers, masks, CCTV cameras, and digital video recorders.

Written by Noelyn Nassuuna