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Former MP Bayiga arrested
Jailed. Dr Lulume Bayiga. FILE PHOTO
What you need to know:
- Dr Bayiga was picked by police officers in both uniform and plain clothes, who first engaged in a scuffle with residents who attempted in vain to block his arrest
- Before he was detained, Dr Bayiga was first given treatment at the police clinic after he complained of severe pain all over his body which, according to him, was as a result of police beatings
Buikwe. Former Buikwe South Member of Parliament Dr Lulume Bayiga was at the weekend arrested and detained at Lugazi Police Station on a string of charges, including assault and inciting violence.
Dr Bayiga was arrested from Ngogwe Sub-county headquarters where he and other doctors were treating elderly people during a medical camp organised by Rotary Club of Mukono.
Dr Bayiga was picked by police officers in both uniform and plain clothes, who first engaged in a scuffle with residents who attempted in vain to block his arrest.
Before he was detained, Dr Bayiga was first given treatment at the police clinic after he complained of severe pain all over his body which, according to him, was as a result of police beatings.
Justification
Sezibwa Region Police spokesperson Hellen Butoto said the former MP has been on police’s most wanted list and that he has been in hiding.
Ms Butoto said Dr Bayiga faces charges of inciting violence, assaulting a police officer and holding an unlawful assembly.
In a brief interview with journalists before he was locked up, the former legislator accused the police of beating him up even when he cooperated with them when they came to arrest him. “They humiliated me before the people in my area and those I was treating. Not even the world’s most wanted terrorist could be treated the way police did to me,’’ said Dr Bayiga.
However, Ms Butoto refuted Dr Bayiga’s claims that he was beaten up.
‘’We treated him with a lot of respect and actually it is him who punched one of our officers,’’ she said.
Mr Patrick Austin Semakula, Dr Bayiga’s lawyer, accused police of arresting him like a “chicken thief”.
Lawyer protests
“I would have expected the police to extend him summons other than arresting which would have come at a later stage,’’ said Mr Semakula.
Dr Bayiga’s wife Esther told Daily Monitor that her husband is in a poor shape and that he requires proper treatment than what he is getting from the police clinic.
“I have managed to see my husband but his condition is worrying and it keeps deteriorating every after the other hour. He can’t sit because of the back pain which he says is a result of police brutality,” said Ms Bayiga.
Dr Bayiga served as the acting secretary general of the Democratic Party from 2007 until 2010. He also served as the Member of Parliament for Buikwe South Constituency from 2008 to 2016.
Last year, he lost the seat to Mr David Mutebi and petitioned the High Court. However, Justice David Batema overruled Dr Bayiga, saying he had presented forged evidence to support his petition.
About bayiga
Education. Michael Lulume Bayiga was born on May 1, 1970. He attended St Paul’s Boys Primary School in Nkokonjeru, Kyambogo College School and Makerere University School of Medicine. In 2004, he graduated from the Southern African Regional Institute for Policy Studies, at the University of Zimbabwe, with the degree of Master of Policy Studies.
Political career. He joined politics in 2006 when he unsuccessfully contested for the Buikwe County South constituency seat against NRM’s Anthony Mukasa. Dr Bayiga, however, petitioned court, which nullified Mukasa’s victory. In the 2008 by-elections, Dr Bayigga won the seat and was re-elected in 2011 but lost the seat last year.
