Police in Uganda have apologised to John Baptist Kaggwa, Bishop Emeritus of Masaka Diocese in central Uganda, and the Catholic Church after lobbing teargas canisters at the congregation during a prayer meeting where he was the main celebrant.
Senior Uganda Police officers on Tuesday travelled 120 kilometres from the capital Kampala to Bishop Kaggwa’s home in Masaka to deliver an apology from the Inspector General of Police, Martin Okoth Ochola, this week.
John Baptist Kaggwa, Bishop Emeritus of Masaka Diocese (centre) and Assistant Inspector General of Police Asan Kasingye (on his left) after the meeting in Masaka on Tuesday. PICTURE: Courtesy of Uganda Police.
The prayer meeting, held last Saturday, had been organised by members of the Mbogo clan at their ancestral site at Magulu, in Mityana District, to give thanks for one of their elders, Gajuule Kayiira Kasibante. Kasibante had served as the head of Buganda Kingdom’s 52 clans for the last seven years until recently when the Kabaka (King) of Buganda Kingdom, Ronald Muwenda Mutebi, appointed another elder, Augustine Nsereko, to replace him.
But as soon as the prayers started, a local police commander from Mityana district arrived with heavily armed officers and started lobbing canisters of teargas at the venue to disperse the congregation. Elders who were attending the prayers fled and in the process some fainted after inhaling teargas.
The incident sparked protests from the Catholic Church and Buganda Kingdom loyalists, who accused the police of attacking the church and the cultural institution.
Several groups of Buganda Kingdom loyalists and Catholics on Tuesday trekked several miles to the Kingdom’s headquarters in Mengo, Kampala, to express their dissatisfaction with the incident. They called upon the police and Central Government to reprimand the officer who led the operation.
Earlier on Monday, Uganda Police spokesman Fred Enanga said that they used teargas at the prayer meeting to stop a big gathering in an action to prevent the spread of coronavirus. But the organisers of the prayer meeting insisted they had observed all the social distancing procedures, including the wearing of face masks.
On Tuesday, the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Asan Kasingye said he led a delegation of senior officers on behalf of the IGP to meet Bishop Emeritus John Baptist Kaggwa at his home.
“We delivered apologies to him, his family and the Catholic Church fraternity, over the disruptions caused during the thanks giving ceremony of the Mbogo clan at the clan headquarters in Magulu village.”
Kasingye said the IGP had carried out a thorough review and evaluation of the incident and acknowledges the operational lapse which led to the use of teargas.
Sight has learned that the prayer meeting had attracted dozens of opposition party politicians from Buganda Kingdom who intended to use it to solicit for votes ahead of next year’s general elections despite a coronavirus-related ban on political gatherings. It has been alleged that police have used the ban to crackdown on opposition party activities.
One of the prominent opposition politicians who were expected at the prayer meeting was Robert Kyagulanyi (aka Bobi Wine), a former musician turned politician who is eyeing the office of the President in the general elections. Kyagulanyi is also member of the Mbogo clan.
Buganda Kingdom’s Premier, Charles Peter Mayiga, condemned the incident last weekend. He said the actions of the security officers “violates our culture”.
“Members of the Mbogo clan are many and belong to various political inclinations and religions. Going to a clan meeting is like attending church or mosque where people belonging to various political camps can go. We also condemn the act of blocking some clan members from accessing the venue to be with their clan leaders.”
Rebecca Kadaga, Speaker of Uganda’s Parliament, on Tuesday summoned Uganda’s Minister of Internal Affairs, General Jeje Odongo, to explain to parliament why police used teargas to disperse clan and religious leaders during the thanksgiving.
She said it was wrong for the police to claim that they dispersed the prayer meeting to prevent the spread of COVID-19 when the religious and cultural leaders at the venue had observed social distancing procedures, including the wearing of face masks.
The apology is one of few police have made after such an incident.
