Police have denied claims that security officers shot at the vehicle of Nathan Nandala Mafabi, the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) presidential candidate, in Amudat District on Friday evening. Mafabi had reported a case of attempted murder at Amudat Central Police Station following a fracas between his supporters and security personnel at Kalita, alleging that police fired at his car, shattering the right windscreen.
The incident occurred when security personnel, including police and Anti-Stock Theft Unit officers, blocked Mafabi from addressing a campaign rally at Kalita Livestock Market, a restricted area under Electoral Commission guidelines. Some of his supporters reacted angrily, throwing stones at the security team. Officers fired warning shots in response.
Mike Longole, Mount Moroto Regional Police Spokesperson, said both a police truck and Mafabi’s vehicle were damaged during the confrontation. Investigations confirmed that the damage to Mafabi’s car was caused by a stone, not a bullet. “When we examined the vehicle, we found a stone inside, which confirmed it was not a bullet,” Longole said.
He added that Mafabi later acknowledged that the damage was caused by stones thrown by residents, not security forces. “The candidate went to campaign in a market, which is not allowed under Electoral Commission guidelines, and that is when the confrontation started. Some members of the crowd started throwing stones at our vehicles, and one of those stones ended up hitting the candidate’s car,” Longole told Uganda Radio Network.
The matter was resolved amicably, no case was registered, and Mafabi has continued campaigning in other areas. However, our reporter couldn’t independently verify Longole’s claims as Nandala’s team couldn’t be reached by the time of publishing this story. Police urged the public and media to verify information before reporting incidents related to ongoing campaigns. This is not the first time politicians and security agencies have clashed over whether damage was caused by a bullet or a stone.
In 2017, a post-mortem report revealed that Edison Nasasira, who died during a standoff between Uganda Police and opposition politician Dr. Kizza Besigye in Rukungiri, was shot with a bullet. Police, led by then Kigezi Regional Commander Denis Namuwoza, had initially claimed the deceased was hit by a stone, citing the size of the wound.
Kigezi Regional Police spokesperson Elly Matte also noted that the single wound made it unlikely that a bullet caused the death. A year later, in 2018, National Unity Platform presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu’s driver, Yasin Kawuma, was killed in violence during which NUP supporters were accused of throwing stones at President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni’s motorcade.
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