I Was Attacked By Police Homos
Jan 09, 2003
While watching TV in a bar, a policeman confesses to me that he is gay and asks me to join him</b><br>A MAN is chilling down with a drink, spending quality time in the bar.
By Kennedy Oryema
While watching TV in a bar, a policeman confesses to me that he is gay and asks me to join him
A MAN is chilling down with a drink, spending quality time in the bar. Another soon joins him and breaks the silence.
The rapport is picking up. They eventually break down in laughter. You see them getting cosy.
Meanwhile, you pick interest and notice that there is some chemistry between the two.
They forget about whoever is around and begin fondling each other. Kissing follows. Suddenly they are falling all over themselves.
Romance is in the air. This is hard to believe. “Am I daydreaming?†I ask myself. No ! It is not a movie either.
I rub my eye lids to a clear view of the act. These are homosexuals. My God ! Welcome to Kampala.
The number of joints where lesbians and homosexuals hang out in Kampala is increasing.
The homosexuals in town include civil servants like policemen.
I saw the reality on new year at a bar which is open to the public near Lugogo Stadium.
Inside the bar is a cop seated on a high stool at the counter. He is wearing sun glasses and is light- skinned. He is of average body build.
It is 8:00pm in the night. The man seated like a mafia don, is drinking beer.
The beer bottle is jealously rubbing shoulders with a glass of Uganda Waragi. I am told this cop is a Sergeant in Kampala. Next to him is another light-skinned cop whom one could mistake for a priest owing to his innocent looks.
This is a cop who would make the Inspector General of police Katumba Wamala grow old, if he thinks of discipline in the Police, sources in the Police said.
Beside him is another policeman wearing a hat. I discover later that these are junior policemen. I sense something sinister about these fellows.
I order for another drink. I assume a seat two metres away from them. I am seated on the table alone. Suddenly, a mother arrives with an army of children. I excuse myself and move to another table. On the next table directly opposite the counter are two men who look quite uneasy in my presence.
One is dark-skinned wearing a black trouser and a light shirt. The other is light-skinned and wearing a T-Shirt.
The light-skinned man excuses himself and goes to another cop as if to consult. They nod as if in agreement. He walks back to his seat.
As I get absorbed by a documentary on television, the light-skinned cop interrupts when he introduces himself. “I hope you won’t be offended to know that we are homosexuals. We are simply interesting people to join us.â€
I look at him squarely in the face. Homosexuals being recruited in the Police force? Where is this country going ? Could Katumba Wamala be knowing this? Is this what is behind those sun glasses? Could this be one of the reasons the public have lost faith in the force and are taking the law in their hands?
Won’t we come to a situation where civilians would prefer running to criminals instead of the Police? I wonder.
I last saw this situation in films.
The man winks at his friend and I see movement above his sun glasses showing a response.
I then call the manager of the bar and tell him that these two men are self-confessed homosexuals. He should not entertain them around.
The manager seems uneasy. I ask him to reveal their names but he is not willing to though he had been conversing with them. “I simply know that they are policemen and they are my customers,†he says.
One of the cops comes to me and asks if I had given his suggestion a second thought (the suggestion of joining them).
I warn the fellow to keep a distance. I attempt to call the Police but think it a waste of time.
The man I warned not to disturb me, pats me again. I decide to take action –– I hold him by the collar and within a split of a second, the cop and his two colleagues swing into action.
One of the men seated with the Sergeant holds me by the belt.
The sergeant moves forward, punches me several times while another cop hits my stomach hard.
Meanwhile, their colleague I am holding by the collar breaks loose and disappears into the darkness.
Suddenly, a workmate storms inside. The gang of three cops step back. The sergeant warns me never to harass his friends. “Who was harassing the other? his friends harassing me or I harassing them?†I ask.
On January 3, I go to the Police Headquarters complaints desk at Kibuli and register my complaint about the errant Policemen.
At the complaints desk, I am asked to repeat the statement several times. Their behaviour irritates me and I begin wondering whether they are Ugandan cops or foreigners recruited to work at the headquarters.
The officer at the desk advises me to first report to the District Police Commander (DPC) Jinja Road Police.
He explains that the DPC would then consider if I should open up a case against the cop, then later prosecution would advise me accordingly.
I lost interest in the case when I came to know that there is no internal disciplinary mechanism in the Police unlike in the army.
It does not surprise me to hear that policemen are lending out guns to robbers.
I would not get surprised to hear that the same fellows are involved in drug-trafficking.
My only consolation is that the story must be told, without distorting history.
The story must be told accurately –– that there are homosexuals in the Police Force.
We should not simply bury our heads in the sand and resort to saving face through good public relations.
Happy new Year. Ends
While watching TV in a bar, a policeman confesses to me that he is gay and asks me to join him
A MAN is chilling down with a drink, spending quality time in the bar. Another soon joins him and breaks the silence.
The rapport is picking up. They eventually break down in laughter. You see them getting cosy.
Meanwhile, you pick interest and notice that there is some chemistry between the two.
They forget about whoever is around and begin fondling each other. Kissing follows. Suddenly they are falling all over themselves.
Romance is in the air. This is hard to believe. “Am I daydreaming?†I ask myself. No ! It is not a movie either.
I rub my eye lids to a clear view of the act. These are homosexuals. My God ! Welcome to Kampala.
The number of joints where lesbians and homosexuals hang out in Kampala is increasing.
The homosexuals in town include civil servants like policemen.
I saw the reality on new year at a bar which is open to the public near Lugogo Stadium.
Inside the bar is a cop seated on a high stool at the counter. He is wearing sun glasses and is light- skinned. He is of average body build.
It is 8:00pm in the night. The man seated like a mafia don, is drinking beer.
The beer bottle is jealously rubbing shoulders with a glass of Uganda Waragi. I am told this cop is a Sergeant in Kampala. Next to him is another light-skinned cop whom one could mistake for a priest owing to his innocent looks.
This is a cop who would make the Inspector General of police Katumba Wamala grow old, if he thinks of discipline in the Police, sources in the Police said.
Beside him is another policeman wearing a hat. I discover later that these are junior policemen. I sense something sinister about these fellows.
I order for another drink. I assume a seat two metres away from them. I am seated on the table alone. Suddenly, a mother arrives with an army of children. I excuse myself and move to another table. On the next table directly opposite the counter are two men who look quite uneasy in my presence.
One is dark-skinned wearing a black trouser and a light shirt. The other is light-skinned and wearing a T-Shirt.
The light-skinned man excuses himself and goes to another cop as if to consult. They nod as if in agreement. He walks back to his seat.
As I get absorbed by a documentary on television, the light-skinned cop interrupts when he introduces himself. “I hope you won’t be offended to know that we are homosexuals. We are simply interesting people to join us.â€
I look at him squarely in the face. Homosexuals being recruited in the Police force? Where is this country going ? Could Katumba Wamala be knowing this? Is this what is behind those sun glasses? Could this be one of the reasons the public have lost faith in the force and are taking the law in their hands?
Won’t we come to a situation where civilians would prefer running to criminals instead of the Police? I wonder.
I last saw this situation in films.
The man winks at his friend and I see movement above his sun glasses showing a response.
I then call the manager of the bar and tell him that these two men are self-confessed homosexuals. He should not entertain them around.
The manager seems uneasy. I ask him to reveal their names but he is not willing to though he had been conversing with them. “I simply know that they are policemen and they are my customers,†he says.
One of the cops comes to me and asks if I had given his suggestion a second thought (the suggestion of joining them).
I warn the fellow to keep a distance. I attempt to call the Police but think it a waste of time.
The man I warned not to disturb me, pats me again. I decide to take action –– I hold him by the collar and within a split of a second, the cop and his two colleagues swing into action.
One of the men seated with the Sergeant holds me by the belt.
The sergeant moves forward, punches me several times while another cop hits my stomach hard.
Meanwhile, their colleague I am holding by the collar breaks loose and disappears into the darkness.
Suddenly, a workmate storms inside. The gang of three cops step back. The sergeant warns me never to harass his friends. “Who was harassing the other? his friends harassing me or I harassing them?†I ask.
On January 3, I go to the Police Headquarters complaints desk at Kibuli and register my complaint about the errant Policemen.
At the complaints desk, I am asked to repeat the statement several times. Their behaviour irritates me and I begin wondering whether they are Ugandan cops or foreigners recruited to work at the headquarters.
The officer at the desk advises me to first report to the District Police Commander (DPC) Jinja Road Police.
He explains that the DPC would then consider if I should open up a case against the cop, then later prosecution would advise me accordingly.
I lost interest in the case when I came to know that there is no internal disciplinary mechanism in the Police unlike in the army.
It does not surprise me to hear that policemen are lending out guns to robbers.
I would not get surprised to hear that the same fellows are involved in drug-trafficking.
My only consolation is that the story must be told, without distorting history.
The story must be told accurately –– that there are homosexuals in the Police Force.
We should not simply bury our heads in the sand and resort to saving face through good public relations.
Happy new Year. Ends