Why Ankole 'king' was arrested
Jan 12, 2019
Samson Kasasira, the Police spokesperson for Rwizi region, told New Vision that the arrest came after he refused to produce some of his children who were engaged in the 31st December brawl where Umar Asimwe his son, lost his eye.
ANKOLE KING ARREST POLICE BRAWL
The rift between the embattled 'king' of Ankole kingdom, Umar Asimwe and his father Idrisa Kaweesa who recently announced himself as the new king has continued to deepen, and has taken a fresh twist.
The latest information is that Kaweesa and one of his sons Salim Tugume have been arrested on Friday evening and are currently detained at Mbarara Police Station.
Samson Kasasira, the Police spokesperson for Rwizi region, told New Vision that the arrest came after he refused to produce some of his children who were engaged in the 31st December brawl where Umar Asimwe his son, lost his eye.
Kasasira said the family is now involved in serious fights over the ownership of Itaaba land where Umar and his father Kaweesa are claiming ownership. He added that the arrest aimed at extracting statements from him pertaining the ongoing fracas over the ownership.
"The reason as to why the Police went and picked him is because he has been on Police bond and had not been coming to report. Secondly, the Police asked him to produce all those who were engaged in the fight and he refused to comply. Therefore, him and one of his sons are here. They are going to record statements and when they get sureties, they will be released on bond," said Kasasira.
It should be noted that last week, Kaweesa and other members while at Itaaba, banished his son Umar Asimwe from accessing the land, saying he had disowned him. He also enthroned himself as the king to take over and run the activities of the kingdom.
Polly Muyambi, the spokesperson of the Asiimwe side said the land belongs to Ankole Karo Kalungi, an institution that was registered by Umar Asimwe when he enthroned himself.
"This Itaaba land was where they used to crown all the Kings of Ankore. So, the land belongs to the kingdom. Initially, it was small, but Umar kept on buying land from the neighbours and expanded," he said.
However, on the agreement that was seen by New Vision, the ownership of the land was recorded in the names of Ankole Karo Kalungi and it was signed by Kaweesa and bears the stamps of the LC1 chairman.
It showed that Kaweesa bought the land at sh3m. Kaweesa had prior confirmed to us that he bought the land himself when he sold off his Fuso truck.