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Bedridden Bobi Wine violently arrested at Entebbe Airport


Police arrested bedridden Mityana Municipality MP Francis Zaake as he reached Entebbe Airport to travel abroad for specialised treatment after Lubaga Hospital, where he had been admitted, said they could no longer manage his deteriorating health.

Kyadondo East MP Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine, who had been scheduled to fly out of the country to seek specialised treatment for injuries inflicted on him in detention by the security forces in Arua, was also blocked at the airport by security forces last evening.

In a telephone interview earlier, his elder brother Eddy Yawe confirmed Mr Kyagulanyi was scheduled to fly abroad for further medication.

“We are flying him to a USA hospital for further scans on his hip and the organs, which have been found with problems. We do not know how long we shall be there but the doctors will be able to tell us according to their prescription. We shall be setting off from Entebbe airport this evening (yesterday),” Mr Yawe said.

Asked whether Lubaga Hospital had failed to handle Mr Kyagulanyi’s condition, Dr Peter Kibuuka, the hospital’s managing director, did not deny or admit but said they could not block “someone’s choice.”

Both MPs are admitted to Kiruddu General Hospital.

ZAAKE’S PASSPORT CONFISCATED

Police confiscated his passport and boarding pass and those of his wife Bridget Namirembe, who was accompanying him.

Mr Zaake was driven from Lubaga Hospital to the airport in the hospital ambulance followed by an AAR back-up ambulance in the morning hours.

Mr Zaake suffered severe injuries, which were allegedly inflicted on him by security forces who arrested and beat him during the chaos in the Arua Municipality by-election campaigns about two weeks. He had spent about two weeks at Lubaga Hospital under treatment for the injuries.

He is part of Opposition politicians and other civilians who were violently arrested during the Arua chaos where President Museven’s car was allegedly stoned.

“You cannot go from here unless you present travel clearance from the Criminal Investigations Department,” the Chief of Joint Security Operations at Entebbe Airport, Mr James Ruhweza, told Mr Zaake in the VIP lounge where the sick MP had been delivered in an ambulance en route to Manipal Hospital in India.

Police later issued a statement explaining why they blocked Mr Zaake’s travel and said he had been arrested and at an appropriate time he will be charged in court with offences committed during the Arua Municipality by-election chaos about two weeks ago.

His co-accused MPs and others have already been charged in court with treason.