Opposition denied stage at Ariong burial
SOURCE: THE DAILY MONITOR, 26 MARCH 2012
Police officers carry AIPJohn Michael Ariong’s casket during his burial in Kumi at the weekend. Ariong was killed during an exchange between police and opposition supporters in Kampala last week.
It was a twin burial in Atutur Sub-County in Kumi District at the weekend. At one corner was Assistant Inspector of Police Michael Ariong, who was allegedly killed by the opposition supporters on Wednesday, while on the other end was Stephen Akol, 21, a Kumi resident, who reportedly died after police fired live bullets on Thursday to disperse a crowd that had stormed a police station.
Even before the first words were spoken at Ariong’s burial, the atmosphere turned openly political. Mr Patrick Amuriat, the Kumi MP expressed worry that the police were seeking to avenge Ariong’s death.According to witnesses, the mob was demanding the hand over of suspects who had killed a 19-year-old student of Wiggins SS, Patrick Obore, the previous day. The area police spokesperson, Mr Juma Hassan, said the police were forced to use live bullets because the mob attempted to wreck the station. Daily Monitor could not independently verify this claim.
“They are unapologetic and the residents are unhappy with their conduct. We don’t want to believe that they are now killing people because of Ariong’s death. We don’t have a hand in Ariong’s death.”
Leader of Opposition Nandala Mafabi hoped to defend the group from government accusations that they caused the death of Ariong but him and other local opposition leaders were denied the opportunity to speak.
“We were treated badly. Mourning does not know boundaries,” Kumi FDC mobiliser Odea Apedel said, adding that there was no sense in denying local opposition representatives an opportunity to speak.
A cross-section of opposition leaders attending the funeral service on Saturday complained that the burial preparations were politicised by Tourism Minister Agnes Akiror and other NRM leaders.
Mr Mafabi, FDC Secretary General Alice Alaso and Mr Amuriat attended the funeral service.
Mr Amuriat tried to secure a slot for the opposition to speak through Mr Joseph Opio Apugul, the Atutur Sub-county security officer, but in vain.
Mr Amuriat tried to secure a slot for the opposition to speak through Mr Joseph Opio Apugul, the Atutur Sub-county security officer, but in vain.
Later they left for Akol’s burial, a few kilometers from where Ariong’s body was laid to rest. Here, they denied responsibility for the death and demanded that the government investigates the two deaths and bring the culprits to book.
Justifying why the opposition could not speak, Internal Affairs Minister Hilary Onek said: “Some of these opposition leaders’ words are destructive. They will always find a way to lie around a situation.”
The Minister said according to a postmortem report, Ariong was hit by a hard and blunt object that shattered his head. “We shall look for those who incited the event and even those who participated in throwing stones to kill our man,” said Mr Onek.
No comments:
Post a Comment