A group of aggrieved boda boda riders affiliated to the Century Boda Riders Association in Kampala have lodged complaints to Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) seeking justice after suffering the brutality of the Boda Boda 2010 leader, Abdullah Kitatta and his group.
The group which took their grievances to the UHRC head office in Kampala on Monday claim they have lost millions of Shillings, motorcycles and other valuable property for which they demand compensation.
They also say that some of their colleagues have been killed at the hands of elements of Boda Boda 2010 yet in some cases Police has not helped them secure justice.
Mutyaba Silaje, the Chairman of Century Boda Boda Riders’ Association for Kampala Central said that the Association has lost money and property worth Ush 1.4 billion as a result of vandalism by Boda Boda 2010 on their offices.
“We seek assistance. We [Century Riders’ Association] have lost membership cards, our offices have been raided and ransacked. Computers, furniture and other valuable properties have been destroyed and money stolen,” Silaje said.
“This property is valued at Ush 1.4 billion. We ask human rights activists and governmet to come to our rescue as our Association is indebted since most of the money was loaned,” he added.
Abdullah Kitatta and some other members of Boda Boda 2010 were arrested in operations conducted by the military over the weekend. They are accused of masterminding the gruesome murder of Francis Ekalungar, a former accountant at Case Hospital earlier this month.
The news of Kitatta’s arrest excited several of the members of Century Riders and other Boda Boda factions which have for long been victimized by Boda Boda 2010. Many have been assaulted and others had their motorcycles confiscated for not subscribing to Kitatta’s group.
Byamukama Desderio, another boda boda rider lost his arm in an incident where he was nearly killed by element if the rogue group. He claims that in September 3 last year, he was attacked by 3 members of Boda Boda 2010 who stopped him, sought information about his work station and later attempted to kill him.
“I was stopped by 3 people who asked for my card. While I was still on my motorcycle, one of them hit me with a machete on the head. On second attempt, i instead raised my arm which was cut off and then I fell down as though I was dead,” Byamukama told officials at Uganda Human Rights Commission.
The trio later took off with his motorcycle.
Despite having opened a case file at Police, Byamukama says the court hearings were delayed by the strike by state prosecutors and later, he was told the file went missing.
On his part, Umar Isabirye the Association Chairman for Makindye Division thanked government for capturing Kitatta whom he called a renowned “terrorist”. ” Him and his Cabinet have killed most of our colleagues”.
Silaje said that many of the aggrieved have reported their cases to Police but due to Kitatta’s connections with the Seniot Police officers, their cases have been sat on.
“Kitatta intimidates our police officers, that is why our files have been disappearing. Sometimes, they would tell us that a certain file had been picked at the Police by Kitatta himself. And we wonder, who’s Kitatta?” said an infuriated Silaje.
Sometimes, he said, Kitatta would call officers at Kampala Metropolitan Police to have some junior officers recalled for attempting to retrieve confiscated motorcycles from Boda Boda 2010 offices.
Moreen Kiiza, the Registrar at Uganda Human Rights Commission assured the complainants that their concerns would be recorded and followed up for due investigations.
“We have heard the concerns, captured your details and registered the complaint. We shall forward them to our Naguru office which deals with all cases in Kampala so that they are handled,” Kiiza said.
In cases where police is accused of frustrating proper investigations, she said that the relevant information would be pieced together to ensure the individual victims get justice. She commended the group for choosing not to take the law in their hands.