KAMPALA – Two lawyers have said the police are not being sincere as to why they are blocking Bobi Wine’s consultative meetings ahead of his presidential bid in 2021.
On Monday, police blocked Bobi Wine’s meetings in Kasangati Town Council, Wakiso District. On Tuesday, they also blocked another meeting in Gulu Town. The one in Lira Town scheduled for Wednesday hangs in the balance.
But lawyers Jude Byamukama and Oscar Kihika said whereas police are hiding under the Public Order Management Act (POMA) to block the meetings, they are getting it wrong.
“It is very disappointing that the police is doing this. The law which governs the kind of consultive meetings Kyagulanyi is trying to carry out does not provide a role for the police to act the way they are. The Public Order Management Act doesn’t give police powers to dictate how someone carries out or have consultative meetings outdoors,” Byamukama says.
“The police should be honest about why they are doing this. If in the course of a public meeting, an individual(s) act contrary to the law, police are mandated to deal with the individual, but not stop the meeting,” he adds.
Kihika says: “You want to believe the police is neutral in this matter, but the actions speak otherwise. The law in this situation seems to create a problem for us. The police in the way they acted shows they jumped the gun. As it is right now, police are trampling on Hon. Kyagulanyi’s rights. Let him first break the law then the police can swing in to exercise their power.”
