Police should carry out arrests lawfully

This newspaper yesterday reported a disturbing incident, which occurred at Kakiika Technical School in Mbarara City at the weekend.

That police officers raided a wedding reception and haphazardly whisked away the bride is very unwelcome news and should never happen in a country like ours.

 Ms Christine Natuhera, the bride, was grabbed by officers dressed in civilian clothes on allegations that she stole Shs8 million from her previous work place.

 Whereas Article 23 of the Police Act states that a police officer may, without a court order and without a warrant, arrest a person if he or she has reasonable cause to suspect that the person has committed or is about to commit an arrestable offence, the case in point should have been handled differently.

First, the officers should have identified themselves before carrying out the arrest. More so, the bride wasn’t in hiding to warrant subjecting her to ridicule and shame in full view of her guests and on probably the best day of her life. What would it cost for the officers to wait for the function to end?

Had the bride shown signs of not collaborating with the law enforcers in the event that she was summoned or had she disobeyed orders before?  Police spokesperson Fred Enanga yesterday said the case had been reported to local authorities on July 18, and the parties were advised to seek legal redress, and the case file was thus sanctioned on August 18. So why the arrest when court processes are underway? Why did the complainant provide the means to transport Natuhera to police if the case was just?

 More intriguing is the revelation of the Rwizi Police Region Commander Ezekiel Emitu Ebapu, who accused his officers of conflict of interest; meaning they were acting on someone’s interests.

 Whereas Mr Ebapu apologised on behalf of the Force and promised to punish those involved, the public should be furnished with the details of the case and its conclusion.

 As Enanga said yesterday, the officers caused a public nuisance to embarrass the bride and should be brought to book.

The charges, likely to be criminal conspiracy, which might attract dismissal from the Force, should be preferred against the officers to send a stern warning to the rest.

The police must also assure Ugandans that such arrests, and all others where members of the Force are misused, will stop. For instance, there are reports that this newspaper has published before of officers being used to conduct illegal land/house evictions, conduct operations without the authorisation of the Force, and even illegal detentions.

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