Kampala, (UG):– Ugandan Security forces Friday mounted a siege at the National Unity Platform (NUP) headquarters in Makerere Kavule and its School of Leadership in Kamwokya and confiscated a wide variety of alleged military wear from the opposition party’s premises.
The operation, which was carried out in coordination with other security agencies, saw heavy deployment of armed personnel around the party offices, restricting access and detaining several party officials.
In a statement issued on February 21, Police Spokesperson, ACP Rusoke Kituuma said the security force launched a coordinated operation to investigate claims of unauthorized military drills at the opposition party’s premises.
“Following reports of unauthorized military drills at the National Unity Platform (NUP) headquarters in Kavule and their premise in Kamwokya in Kampala City, the Uganda Police Force, in collaboration with other security agencies, has mounted a coordinated security operation,” the police statement read on Friday evening.
“Our security personnel are currently conducting searches at the mentioned locations. Further updates on the outcomes of this operation will be provided in due course,” he added.
However, the NUP party President Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine, has dismissed the security operation as a sham, alleging that the police are targeting the party in a broader crackdown on opposition activities.
“The @NUP_Ug Headquarters is still under siege! The police ridiculously claim that the illegal operations – conducted in the absence of all party officials, amounted to a search! How shameless!” Bobi Wine wrote on Friday night via X (formerly Twitter).
According to Bobi Wine, security forces ransacked NUP offices, seizing party materials, computers, and important documents. “They did an exact same illegal operation in 2020 as we prepared for the election! Just like now, they took away t-shirts, umbrellas, documents, and even money. We are yet to understand what they have taken away from Kavule, even though some onlookers said they saw the criminals loading computers and sacks of other items onto their trucks,” he said.
The former Presidential candidate in the 2021 elections further accused the security agencies of being in panic mode and attempting to cripple the opposition’s organizational structures. “They are persecuting us simply because they are SCARED OF OUR ORGANISATIONAL ABILITIES. They cannot imagine how we’re able to keep moving and winning, despite them breathing heavily on us with all manner of suppression,” he added.
Earlier, Bobi Wine also revealed that the NUP School of Leadership in Kamwokya had been raided, with security forces confiscating computers, books, t-shirts, and other party materials.
“They have taken away all the books in our library, all computers, all t-shirts, and other materials at the shop. They have ransacked all offices and taken away all important documents. They didn’t even leave a single document at the noticeboard!” he wrote, adding “They broke all doors and shattered some glasses. A regime in absolute fear!”
The raid at NUP officials follows a wave of abductions of the opposition party’s officials in recent weeks. On Thursday, two of the four NUP election management officers who had been allegedly abducted earlier in the week; Ms Mercy Walukamba and Rahma Juma, were dumped at SIU Kireka after reportedly being held and interrogated at a military facility in Mbuya.
Police and sister security agencies from military and the Joint Anti-Terrorism Track Unit (JATT) operatives yesterday (Friday) spent the whole of the day in and around the premises of the party office with detention vans, mostly Toyota Hiace vehicles, notoriously referred to as drones staged at the party office gate and in the neighbourhood.
Journalists and road users were denied access to roads near the party offices as security operatives staged several roadblocks.
Despite the heightened security situation and tension at NUP offices, the NUP principal has vowed that the party will not be intimidated. “We expect anything from the cowardly regime – BUT WE ARE NOT INTIMIDATED!” he declared.
The former musician-turned-politician has often accused the government of orchestrating a crackdown on opposition leaders and members in an attempt to weaken the party ahead of upcoming political activities.
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