The National Unity Platform (NUP) leadership has accused the Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF) spokesperson, Brig Gen Felix Kulayigye, of coaching a ‘torture victim’ to lie.
On Wednesday, Kulayigye paraded Eric Mwesigwa, a NUP supporter who recently claimed that he was abducted and tortured by security operatives before the media at the Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs headquarters in Mbuya.
During the press conference, Mwesigwa revealed that he was lured by NUP leadership to have wounds inflicted on his body and promised Shs50 million to pin government over torture. He further claimed that the party has a drone they use to stage abductions of their own supporters.
NUP leaders, including the president, Robert Kyagulanyi as well as Joel Ssenyonyi, the party spokesperson, dismissed the allegations, accusing the army of trying to spin the facts to avoid public scrutiny.
“I wish to state that this is an amateurish attempt by the UPDF to spin the unfortunate torture of a citizen by the army, which confirms that indeed the torture meted out on Mwesigwa and others like him is sanctioned by the UPDF and other security agencies,” Bobi said in a Facebook post shared on Wednesday evening.
“To you all Ugandans, I want to assure you that the real reason why they would engage in these shameful, panicky gimmicks is because they fear sanctions and prosecution, which will certainly come,” Bobi’s statement reads further.
Similarly, Ssenyonyi branded UPDF’s act as an amateurish scheme in a tweet. While appearing on NTV’s news bulletins, the NUP spokesperson challenged Kulayigye to produce evidence that his camp staged the abduction and torture.
Recently, NUP also paraded Mwesigwa before the media and showed burns on his chest that were allegedly inflicted on him while in security detention. Prior to his alleged abduction, police, and other security agencies had said the NUP supporter was not in their custody.
