By Fredrick Musisi Kiyingi
Oct 28, 2003 -Monitor
|
MASAKA � Military policemen beat up rally driver Charlie Lubega at the weekend as he returned to Kampala from a rally competition in Masaka.
Musa and Lubega were driving in a Toyota Land Cruiser when they were flagged down and assaulted by the military policemen. Lubega owns the popular Ange Noir and Ange Mystique discotheques in Kampala. Although the two men � and several other drivers in the convoy � were still dressed in their rally attire, they were apparently mistaken for reserve force soldiers who had been in the rally sections providing security. �We tried to explain our status but were ordered out of the car and roughed up,� Lubega told The Monitor by phone yesterday. Musa, and another occupant of the Land Cruiser, Ms Pauline Bukenya, sustained bruises on the arms from the beatings. Mr Jack Wavamunno, the president of the local rally governing body, the Federation of Motor Sport of Uganda, told The Monitor that they have lodged an official complaint with the army. He said that the UPDF, under which the military police operates, regrets the incident and that the officer who was in charge of the operations was arrested and will be charged. However, Bantariza blamed the motor sport officials for using the reserve force personnel without informing the army. He said the rally organisers should have used policemen with batons rather than the armed reservists. �You cannot kill a mosquito with a hammer,� Bantariza said. |
� 2003 The Monitor Publications
Do you Yahoo!?
Exclusive Video Premiere - Britney Spears
