KASESE – Barely three days after unknown people broke into the FDC party headquarters in Kampala, stealing a number of items, security operatives on Wednesday raided the opposition party offices in Kasese District, confiscating documents.
Kasese FDC district chairperson Saulo Maathe said about 30 plain-clothed operatives, who were brandishing pistols, entered the office on Alexander Street in Kasese Town and without identifying themselves, started checking different lockers and files.
He said having scattered the files on the floor, the security officials took many documents containing, among others minutes of different meetings, forms of the ICC petitions, staff National Identity Cards of and phones.
Mr Maathe said he would contact the district police commander to explain why the party’s offices were invaded. Rwenzori East Regional Police Commander Vincent Twesige confirmed the raid but declined to comment on the matter.
Kasese district chairperson Geoffrey Sibendire Bigogo condemned the raid and said it is suffocation of the development of multi-party democracy in the country.
Bigogo argued that the best thing the security would have done if they needed any documents from the FDC would have been to secure a search warrant from court so that they get legal access to the party premises and subsequently all party documents in the office.
The incidents come as FDC party members and other opposition leaders under the People’s Government led by former presidential candidate Dr Kiiza Besigye are engaged in a countrywide campaign to collect two million signatures to petition the ICC to indict President Museveni and other government officials on alleged crimes against humanity.
In the past five years, the Police has, also, conducted several raids on the FDC party offices confiscating computers and arresting party officials among other things. In the same period, at least 30 office break-ins have been documented at offices of NGOs across the country. Civil Society Organisations have since demanded reports from the police about the incidents in vain.
