Police raids UYD offices

KAMPALA - Police in Kampala have raided Uganda Young Democrats (UYD) offices and arrested some UYD members for allegedly printing and distributing propaganda T-shirts.

The UYD offices were raided at 11:00 am and according to Patrick Onyango the Kampala metropolitan police spokesperson, the operation followed a tip-off by one of their informants that some illegal activities were going on at London chambers.

"Our commandant dispatched a team of field officers led by the CPS DPC to ascertain the authenticity of the distress code we received," Onyango said.

He added that they found a number of T-shirts branded with "inciting wordings" which he could not mention out. Police then resolved to take two of the UYD members in possession of the materials and took them along with their t-shirts to CPS for questioning.

The detained suspects include Erisa Kaddu and Flugensio Musoke according to Onyango, although the UYD administrator Isaac Maddo refuted the number of detained suspects claiming that Kampala central lord councilor Moses Kataabu and another councilor John Mary Ssebuufu were also taken by police.

According to Maddo, the T-shirts were printed and designed by wordings in memory of the Bobi Wine Driver Yasiin Kawuma who was shot dead during the Arua Municipality by-election fracas in August 2018.

"They took the three sacks where we had put the t-shirts yet they couldn't justify how inciting they were," Maddo said.

He noted they intended to distribute the t-shirts among UYD members who would then put them on to commemorate the day they dubbed 13^th August Arua 37.

Onyango clarified that the detained UYD members were not under arrest but only helping police to ascertain the motive behind the t-shirts. "We are going to give them counseling and then let them go," he said.