Mr George E.
Mugisha was picked by operatives from the Violent Crime Crack Unit
(VCCU) from his residence at Luthuli Avenue, Bugolobi.
His daughter
Anne is a member of Reform Agenda and now lives in Florida, USA.
Mugisha's
arrest apparently came after his shamba boy, Mr John Ssebwami told
security personnel that the 70-year-old retired civil servant was
collaborating with alleged rebels of the People's Redemption Army
(PRA).
His wife
Janet told The Monitor on Thursday that her husband had bee
released after being held for more than two hours at VCCU offices
in Kireka.
The VCCU
replaced the Operation Wembley, formed to fight armed
criminals.
"After he
was roughly arrested, an officer at Wembley offices in Kireka
decided to release him because there was no credible evidence. He
returned home yesterday [Wednesday]," Mrs Mugisha said.
Government
has always linked his daughter Anne to PRA. She was in charge of
Research and Publicity for presidential candidate Dr Kizza Besigye
during the 2001 elections.
Besigye fled
to exile in August 2001. He, too is accused of subversion, by
government.
Prior to
Mugisha's arrest, Ssebwami had come to The Monitor offices, on
Monday, alleging that the old man had refused to pay him his
wages.
He said
Mugisha owed him Shs 400,000. He claimed that another worker had
informed Mugisha that he [Ssebwami] wanted to leak information,
about subversion, to security.
Ssebwami
said he had reported to the Labour Office in Kampala regarding his
unpaid wages.
Ssebwami has
worked for Mugisha since 1998. He alleged that Mugisha gave him
information about the rebels and Anne's activities abroad.
He claimed
he had information about Anne's travel to South Africa, Rwanda and
Nigeria soliciting money for the said rebellion.
He also
claimed Mr Mugisha had been mobilising money within Uganda,
including sale of his house in Rubaga.
Mrs Mugisha
on Thursday, denied the claims. She said: "Can you imagine all
those allegations! Anne Mugisha is our daughter and has become a
politician but we should be left to live in peace," she
said.
In an
earlier interview before his arrest, Mr Mugisha denied owing money
to Ssebwami.
He showed
copies of payment slips. He said police at Wandegeya were probing
the alleged non-payment.
He recalled
that September 2001, operatives from the Chieftaincy of Military
Intelligence searched his Mbarara home, over similar allegations
of subversion.
"I know my telephone is tapped," he
said.
According to
Mr Mugisha, the family has been harassed because of their
daughter's political activities.
