MPs to visit Nalufenya Police Station

Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga instructed MPs on the human rights committee to visit the controversial facility. Photo by Tony Rujuta

Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga, has asked MPs on the committee on human rights chaired by Jovah Kamateka to visit Nalufenya Police Station in Jinja and report back to the House.

This follows MPs complaints over the gruesome torture of suspects especially those linked to the death of Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIGP) Andrew Felix Kaweesi at the facility.

Describing the facility as a torture chamber, some MPs called for its immediate closure.

"Since issues of human rights are very important, I will allow the committee to go and assess the situation at the station and report back," Kadaga said without mentioning when the committee intends to tour the place.

On Tuesday, MPs were enraged about the recent stories of torture of suspects in Nalufenya and demanded that the culprits be immediately produced in courts of law and charged for crimes against humanity.

Spearheaded by Kadaga, the MPs wondered why the individuals involved in the gruesome acts have not been prosecuted.

Quoting the Penal Code, the Constitution and the Anti-Torture Act, Kadaga argued that the officers have committed criminal offences and should therefore be produced in court.

Kadaga also condemned the detention of children of the suspects although some have already been released. She described the acts as abduction and demanded that the officers involved be prosecuted.

"The matter has been in the media for some time; why did the officers torture the suspects? Torture and abduction are criminal offences. These are crimes against humanity and the perpetrators ought to be in the dock by now," Kadaga said in her communication to the house.

State Minister of Internal Affairs, Obiga Kania, on Tuesday apologized to the country for the torture claims and vowed to bring the culprits to book.

"We apologize to the country and Parliament because essentially what we do as Police should not be what you are seeing in the media. Laws have been broken but it's not correct to say that we have been doing nothing," he said.

He explained that since the torture stories came up, Police has arrested four officers and investigations are still going on.

"Once we investigate all these issues, we shall present a comprehensive report so that the matter is extensively discussed and solutions found," he said without mentioning the names of the individuals.