Nakawa West legislator and Spokesperson of the National Unity Platform (NUP) party Joel Ssenyonyi has said that the arrest of their Members of Parliament Ssegirinya Muhammad of Kawempe North and Makindye West’s Allan Ssewanyana is a big joke taken too far by government.
Ssenyonyi says government seems to be using the incident (Masaka panga killings) to fight its political difference with NUP.
“They are trying to link the murders in Masaka to NUP. But we (NUP) got overwhelming votes in that area. Why would we want to kill people there? Someone is trying to create a diversion because of the mounting pressure,” says Ssenyonyi.
NUP won almost all the parliamentary seats in the greater Masaka region.
He accuses government, Museveni in specific of only minding about retaining power than solving the issues that collectively affect the public.
“They don’t care about the people. It is how do we keep this bread?” he says.
Ssegirinya and Ssewanyana were yesterday charged with with four counts, three of murder and one of attempted murder and remanded to Kitalya prison until September 15.
The duo is accused of having a hand in the recent spate of killings in Masaka sub-region that left close to 30 people dead.
Prosecution led by Richard Birivumbuka contends that the group had planning meetings at Happy Boys, Kalenda, and Kayanja Rest House in Kampala where they planned the murders.
The prosecution also contends that on Aug 23, 2021, while at Ssetala village in Kimanya Kabonera division, the duo participated in the murder of Sulaiman Kakooza, Michael Kiza Nswa, and Tadeo Kiyimba. Robert Ssebyato survived an attempt on his life.