Katumba a presidential candidate says Police squeezed his private parts

Independent presidential candidate John Katumba says police squeezed his private parts yesterday and that is the reason why he was seen sitting down in the road, gasping in pain after a scuffle between his police guards and Fort Portal police officers.

Katumba now says he is going to walk in protest against the manner in which he was handled by police officers while campaigning in Fort Portal city yesterday. He was roughed up by police officers in a scuffle that started after they failed to agree on his campaign routes.

The police wanted him to pass through Bukwali village as he headed to Bunyangabu district, but Katumba insisted on passing through the heart of Fort Portal city. During the scuffle, his body guards helped him escape arrest after a long fight with police commanded by Kabarole and Fort Portal District Police Commander, SP Oesa John Faustine.

While addressing his supporters in Kabale Municipality today, Katumba said he was protesting arrest by a man dressed in civilian attire. “The man who was arresting me was not dressed in uniform,” he said. “I asked for his identity and they pounced on me instead of explaining who he was.”

Katumba added that to his surprise, the man dressed in civilian clothes grabbed the throat of one of his bodyguards, and the police officers supported him instead of arresting the assailant. Katumba was eventually not arrested, but he said he suffered pain because the officers squeezed his private parts during the scuffle.

“The reason why you saw me sitting down in the middle of the road was pain that I suffered after that man grabbed me by my private parts,” said Katumba.

Katumba said it was not the first time police brutalized him, and whenever he asks for an explanation, they tell him it is an order from above. He said that on Monday next week, he will walk on foot from his home in Ntinda, Kampala to the head offices of the Electoral Commission and demand an explanation about the “order from above.

URN