Police teargas Ex vice president Gilbert Bukenya’s supporters over illegal political rally

Police on Thursday fired teargas to disperse more than 600 supporters of former Vice President Prof. Gilbert Bukenya. Prof. Bukenya had organised a political gathering of over 600 people at his home in Kakiri, Wakiso district.

Kampala Metropolitan police spokesperson Patrick Onyango says that Prof. Bukenya used taxis to ferry people to his home without following the Ministry of Health guidelines on controlling the possible spread of coronavirus disease. Taxi’s are only allowed to carry half of their capacity at the moment.

Onyango added that Prof. Bukenya erred by bringing together a large crowd for a political rally well knowing that such gatherings were suspended. President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni banned political rallies in an attempt to curb the spread the coronavirus (COVID-19).

“At the moment political gatherings are not allowed. We talked to him to abandon the idea but he refused. We deployed in and around his home to deter him from engaging in illegal activities,” Onyango added.

Onyango said Bukenya then shifted his rally to Masulita but again the police got information about the gathering. Police went to Masulita and discharged teargas to disperse the crowd.

“We had to disperse them using tear gas. We impounded three of his taxis that were ferrying people without observing the set guidelines of half the capacity,” added Onyango. He said the police is investigating a case of doing acts likely to spread infectious disease.

Prof. Bukenya was the vice president for over 10 years before he was dropped in 2011. He lost the parliamentary seat in 2016.

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