National Unity Platform (NUP) president Robert Kyagulanyi’s bodyguard is on spot for assaulting a journalist in Masaka and destroying gadgets including cameras.
The incident happened on Saturday when Kyagulanyi and his entourage were in Masaka at the burial of an NUP supporter, Pascal Ssekasamba of Manja village in Lwengo district.
In a statement issued by Greater Masaka Journalists Association (GREMAJA), it is alleged that Bobi Wine’s bodyguards led by a one Achileo Kivumbi assaulted journalists Getrude Mutyaba of NTV, Margaret Kayondo of Radio Simba, Zaina Namusaazi of NBS, while on duty.
The president of the association, Farish Magembe, condemned the conduct of Bobi Wine’s bodyguards, and appealed to relevant authorities including police and human rights groups to take interest in the matter saying this act of violence is not only an attack on media but a violation of fundamental human rights of Journalists.
“We call upon police to conduct a thorough investigation into this matter and urge media rights defenders such as Human Rights Network for Journalists (HRNJ) and other human rights organizations to take interest in this case” Farish Magembe stated.
By the time of this publication, it had been established that the affected journalists reported the case to police and recorded statements.
It is alleged that as Kyagulanyi was arriving at the burial, a physical confrontation ensued between supporters of rival camps within the NUP. Bobi Wine’s security head Eddy Mutwe intervened and stopped the rowdy youths but one of them called Achileo Kivumbi went on, to destroy the lens of Zainab’s camera.
The physical confrontation left some journalists with minor injuries but there was significant damage to the equipment, including cameras and other recording devices.
“I was capturing the arrival of Kyagulanyi when his bodyguards started beating up Margaret Kayondo, a Radio Simba journalist in Masaka,” Zainab said.
“We were just doing our job, covering a public event, and suddenly we were under attack. I told them to stop it and that is when one of his bodyguards who had a black mask started pulling my leg as he wanted me to fall down in the incident.” She narrated.
However, NUP Deputy spokesperson, Waiswa Mufumbiro, denied involvement of any of Bobi’s bodyguards in the alleged assault on Journalists trashing the allegations as false.
“We are not aware of any incident involving attack on journalists or any of Bobi’s bodyguards. We as NUP, respect the role of journalists and their rights. Please treat those reports as fabrications like all other fabricated reports which have been coming from Masaka. That man, Farish Magembe, is a known Mpuuga sympathizer and that’s what we expect from him” Mufumbiro told our reporter.