Dr Moses Mukose, the People’s Front for Freedom (PFF) Governor for the Busoga Sub-region, spent more than 20 hours in police custody over the weekend following his arrest at Mulago National Referral Hospital. A police bond seen by Uganda Radio Network (URN) indicates that Dr Mukose, 60, a former Commissioner for Education and Health Fraud at the Inspectorate of Government (IGG), was arrested after allegedly wandering within Level Six of the hospital’s VIP Wing.
His son, Arnold Anthony Mukose, said his father had gone to Mulago to visit his father-in-law, who has been admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in the hospital’s VIP Wing for the past two weeks. According to Arnold Mukose, the patient’s room is adjacent to that of opposition politician Dr Col. Kizza Besigye, who remains under tight security at the hospital.
He said his father was intercepted by security personnel after leaving the ward and was accused of being at the facility to monitor security around Dr Besigye. Arnold Mukose alleged that police officers identified his father as a PFF official and claimed he had been sent by the party’s Head of Mobilisation, Ingrid Turinawe, to assess security arrangements around Dr Besigye with the intention of facilitating his escape.
He said Dr Mukose was arrested at about 5:00 p.m. on Saturday and was initially accused of disobeying lawful police orders before the allegation was changed to wandering within Level Six of the VIP Wing. “My father explained that he had come to visit his father-in-law and even asked the officers to verify this with the doctors and caregivers attending to the patient, but they ignored him and detained him. We have now secured police bond and brought him home to rest,” Arnold Mukose said.
The arrest has attracted criticism from opposition leaders and human rights lawyers, who questioned both the legality of the arrest and the offence cited on the police bond. Lawyer and Kira Municipality Member of Parliament George Musisi argued that the offence indicated on the bond is not recognised under Ugandan law. Dr Mukose’s arrest comes amid heightened security at Mulago National Referral Hospital following the admission of Dr Col. Kizza Besigye.
On Friday, several PFF leaders, including Deputy Secretary General Harold Kaija, Kampala Capital City Authority Speaker Doreen Nyanjura and Head of Mobilisation Ingrid Turinawe, were denied access to Besigye by security personnel deployed at the hospital. Hospital officials told the group that standard medical procedures do not permit visitors to access patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit.
Dr Besigye was transferred to Mulago National Referral Hospital after his health deteriorated following an incident in court last Wednesday, where he collapsed while protesting the commencement of his trial without lawyers of his own choosing-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
