The Uganda Police Force has come up to condemn brutal acts meted on suspects purported to be from MP Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu’s ‘People Power’ pressure group, by police officers.
This is in response to a social media video footage making rounds, showing a number of officers in Police uniform kicking a certain person and accusing him of belonging to people power while displaying a red T-shirt said to be his.
But, the beaten man, is heard painfully screaming for mercy from the defiant officers.
In a tweet on Friday, police said that these acts are unprofessional and violate their code of conduct, adding that they have launched investigations into the matter.
“Today, September 21, 2018, there is a video circulating on social media platforms showing our officers behaving in a manner that is unacceptable under our professional code of conduct.
We have opened an inquiry into the conduct of these officers,” read a Police tweet.
They said these are individual actions which are not condoned by the institution of Police.
“These acts are not institutionalised, but individual acts that have no place in the Uganda Police Force. This is why all individuals involved will be investigated and penalised in accordance with the law. Justice will be done,” the tweet further read.
MP Kyagulanyi had earlier stated that the said video clip was secretly recorded but wondered why police officers can heartlessly beat their Ugandan brothers in such a manner.
“Today, this other secretly recorded video surfaced. The video shows police officers battering a young man inside a police station for supporting People Power. They are heard jeering and insulting him as they kick him, punch him and do all sorts of things to him,” he said.
“One of them is seen displaying a red t-shirt and as if that’s a crime, he launches another attack on the innocent citizen of Uganda! You can hear him groan in pain, but these police officers, shamelessly putting on our national flag, will have none of that. What kind of human beings are these?,” asked Mr Kyagulanyi in his Facebook post.
“Are these our brothers and sisters? Are they Ugandans? Of course as they did all this, they foolishly thought that no one was watching. I must salute whoever recorded the video and I encourage all of you friends to always record these violations. The camera is sometimes the only weapon we have to bring these crimes to the attention of the world,” he added.
The youthful legislator further said that using the footage, a team of lawyers have been instructed to identify the officers involved and take legal action against them in their individual capacity.