The Forum for Democratic Change – FDC leader Col. Dr. Kiiza Besigye has hit back at government, demanding that a full and independent postmortem examination be done on the body of a police officer killed on Wednesday during an opposition demonstration in Kampala.
Besigye says he wants the report of such an investigation made public for the truth to be known, of what and how exactly, Assistant Inspector of Police John Bosco Ariong was killed.
He was on Friday reacting to accusations leveled against him by some government officials that he was responsible for the police officer’s violent death.
On Thursday during a parliamentary debate, Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi and the State Minister Internal Affairs James Baba accused the FDC leader of having caused the death of Ariong. The two accused Besigye of being involved in violent demonstrations recently.
They also challenged Besigye to own up to the responsibility for Ariong’s death, piling pressure on the opposition leader to help name those they say are his supporters who allegedly threw the stone that killed the officer.
But while addressing a press conference at parliament, Besigye said he was not the one who organized the rally that later turned violent, leading to a fracas in which Ariong died. He said the rally was organized by the Kampala Lord Mayor, Erias Lukwago, who only invited him to attend and talk to his supporters.
He said the fracas that resulted into the death of the police officer was started by the police whose officers he accused of becoming partisan against the opposition.
Besigye accused his arch rival, President Yoweri Museveni of politicizing the unfortunate death of Ariong for his own selfish gains and said he should have waited for a proper investigation to establish the cause and possible culprits. He accused Police Spokesperson Judith Nabakooba and her boss, the Inspector General of Police, Kale Kayihura, of acting partisan and on behalf of the NRM government.
Besigye, using the same arguments, challenged President Museveni to own up for the killings at Kasubi Tombs two years ago, since they happened when the president had gone there to inspect the site that had got burnt.
The FDC leader said he was sympathetic to the death of Ariong and called on the family to demand for a full compensation and care by government of all his children until they are of age to stand independent.
He said it was inconceivable for an officer to be assigned to quell riots without any protective gear.
He agreed that camera recordings should be used to establish the truth of how the fracas was started, leading to the death.
