Police clash with A4C supporters, Nabilah discharged

By Jeff Andrew Lule and Simon Masaba  

Gunshots and teargas filled Kalerwe and Kanyanya areas on Wednesday as police tried to block a procession following Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) leader Col. Kizza Besigye.

Besigye was from addressing an Activists for Change (A4C) rally in Mulago when the clashes broke out.

The A4C rally ended peacefully at Mulago playground but the events that followed culminated into battles between the police and the opposition entourage.         

After Besigye’s address to the rally, police started firing teargas towards the crowd to prevent them from following their party leader.

After clearing the area, police tried to hold Besigye’s car, which prompted supporters to throw stones towards the direction of the car targeting the security forces.

When police blocked Besigye from accessing Mawanda road to Kalerwe and instead diverted him to Kyebando Nsooba road, the three-time FDC flag-bearer did not resist and obeyed the instruction.

But along the way, the FDC leader eluded police and used a shorter route to Kalerwe where he found another heavy police presence.

Here another group of rowdy supporters started pelting stones at police which triggered an hour-long clash between the two sides.

Police was forced to use a teargas truck, which effectively fired clouds of the irritating gas. Two patrol vehicles were employed to block the Gayaza road in Mpelerwe for about half-an-hour to ease traffic flow and also keep off the procession.

Besigye was escorted by one police patrol car to his residence in the neighbouring Kasangati town.

Nabilah better

Meanwhile, Kampala woman MP, Nabilah Naggayi has been discharged from Case Clinic where she was admitted on Tuesday after sustaining injuries in clashes between police and opposition supporters.

Besigye and Nabilah sustained injuries on Tuesday in a violence which erupted between police and A4C supporters in Katwe, a Kampala suburb.

Four policemen were injured in the fracas.

Nabilah slumped into unconsciousness after experiencing breathing complications caused by the teargas which swallowed the area. Besigye sustained minor injuries from fragments from an exploded device.

Despite being discharged, Nabilah who coordinated the A4C rally said she still felt pain in her chest and congestion in the nose.

“I have been asked by the doctor to eat more fruits and drink a lot. I still have difficulty in breathing and chest pain, but hope to recover soon,” she said.

She noted that police was being used by the state to intimidate the opposition from holding their campaigns. But the woman MP stressed that the opposition “will never give up the struggle.”

Also discharged were Francis Mwijukye (FDC youth leader) and Ingrid Turinawe (FDC women league leader).

No legal action against police

When he visited his fellow party members at the clinic in Kampala, Besigye said they have no intention of taking any legal action against the police force because “they [police] are just used by some individuals.”

He explained that the opposition is ready to face all kinds of intimidation until a new system of governance is in place.

Besigye said government should do what is required of it if they want such protests to stop.