The minister of internal affairs, Gen. Kahinda Otafiire, has warned security personnel against making unauthorized arrests and imprisoning people without cause.
Otafiire claims he has heard numerous complaints about people being detained without conducting a thorough investigation.
Otafiire stated that he despises the word “abduction” in response to the recent spike in reports of ongoing abductions of members of the public by security agencies, particularly National Unity Platform (NUP) supporters.
“When a government starts abducting its own citizens, it’s no longer a government,” says Otafiire.
Otafiire asserts that people are arrested rather than kidnapped.
“Whoever arrests citizens and confines them in non-gazetted detentions is a criminal,” he says.
Recently, the NUP claimed that over 20 of their supporters, including the bodyguard of Bobi Wine’s party president Robert Kyagulanyi, went missing.
The party claimed that security agencies use Toyota Hiace cars, also referred to as “drones,” to carry out kidnappings.