A senior member of the Ugandan opposition told AFP on Friday that security forces stormed his home the previous day as the country held elections, shooting dead 10 members of his campaign team.
“Ten were killed inside my house,” Muwanga Kivumbi, member of parliament for the National Unity Platform (NUP) in the Butambala area of central Uganda, told AFP by phone.
Uganda held elections under an internet blackout on Thursday, with President Yoweri Museveni accused by rights groups of “brutal repression” against the opposition as he seeks to extend his 40 years in power.
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Kivumbi said he was “emotionally broken” by the attack, which occurred after hundreds of his supporters had gathered at his home after voting ended.
Many fled as security forces stormed the compound, but officers fired through the door of a garage where 10 campaign agents were hiding, said Kivumbi’s wife Zahara Nampewo, a law professor.
Local police spokesperson Lydia Tumushabe gave a different account, saying “a group of NUP goons” had planned to overrun and burn down a local tally centre and police station.
“An unspecified number were put out of action,” she told AFP, adding that 25 others had been arrested and charged with malicious damage of property.
Kivumbi and his wife said security forces had taken the bodies from their home. But the couple told AFP they had confirmed the death toll of 10 from a local hospital.
It was not possible to receive images from the scene because the government has imposed an internet blackout during the election.
“Right now I’m anxious because they have redeployed around home again,” Nampewo said. “I was very shaken personally. Seeing fresh bodies. I mean, that is something that cannot easily go away.”
The couple said there had been a heavy security deployment around them in the days leading up to the election, and their team had been attacked.
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A senior member of the Ugandan opposition told AFP on Friday that security forces stormed his home the previous day as the country held elections, shooting dead 10 members of his campaign team.
“Ten were killed inside my house,” Muwanga Kivumbi, member of parliament for the National Unity Platform (NUP) in the Butambala area of central Uganda, told AFP by phone.
Uganda held elections under
an internet blackout
on Thursday, with President Yoweri Museveni accused by rights groups of “brutal repression” against the opposition as he seeks to extend his 40 years in power.
Follow The Standard
channel
on WhatsApp
Kivumbi said he was “emotionally broken” by the attack, which occurred after hundreds of his supporters had gathered at his home after voting ended.
Many fled as security forces stormed the compound, but officers fired through the door of a garage where 10 campaign agents were hiding, said Kivumbi’s wife Zahara Nampewo, a law professor.
Local police spokesperson Lydia Tumushabe gave a different account, saying “a group of NUP goons” had planned to overrun and burn down a local tally centre and police station.
“An unspecified number were put out of action,” she told AFP, adding that 25 others had been arrested and charged with malicious damage of property.
Kivumbi and his wife said security forces had taken the bodies from their home. But the couple told AFP they had confirmed the death toll of 10 from a local hospital.
It was not possible to receive images from the scene because the government has imposed
an internet blackout
during the election.
“Right now I’m anxious because they have redeployed around home again,” Nampewo said. “I was very shaken personally. Seeing fresh bodies. I mean, that is something that cannot easily go away.”
The couple said there had been a heavy security deployment around them in the days leading up to the election, and their team had been attacked.
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By AFP