Arua MP elect Hon. Kassiano Wadri has applauded his constituents for making history and voting him into parliament despite his incarceration.
Wadri was voted Member of Parliament for Arua Municipality, replacing the late Ibrahim Abiriga who was assassinated in June. The MP elect however, could not celebrate his election as he was in prison, facing charges of treason.
During the final day of campaigns Wdri was arrested in Arua with a host of members of parliament including Kyagulanyi Ssentamu Robert, Gerald Karuhanga, Michael Mabikke, Paul Mwiru among others.
They were charged with treason after some rowdy youths in their camp allegedly attacked the presidential convoy and pelted stones at the cars. The group was on Monday released on Bail by the Gulu High Court.
Appearing on local television NBS this morning, Hon. Wadri who is not allowed to set foot in his constituency for the next three months said he was proud of his voters.
“The people of Arua municipality have made history to vote for me and stay strong behind the candidate in all the chaos, I want to thank them for the support they gave me even when I was in the cell” he said.
He terms the Arua incident as the most unpleasant incident in his life, arguing the security officers did the most unfair things to him and colleagues.
According to the former Terego county MP, the police cell was crowded and they all were held in a very small cell with little ventilation, no water, sleeping on dirty cement. “We were locked up the whole day with no toilet services, you had to tighten your belt and wait for that one time they let people out” he narrated.
He however says they were able to get fresh water and breathe some fresh air after being taken to Gulu prison. He praises prison authorities for acting professionally.
The only institution in government which still practices fairness in Uganda is Uganda prisons; we had a sigh of relief because we had running water, toilet facilities and the prison authorities let us have visitors on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. They even let us cook our own food. I want to thank the prison authorities for treating us that way, that was heaven on earth for us” Wadri narrated.
He also said they were allowed to buy News papers and watch TV, to see what was happening in Kampala. He however denies ever seeing the president or his motorcade in Arua on the fateful day. “We were in totally different areas for our rallies but I think what caused problems for us were the large crowds we had” he added.
Hon. Kassiano Wadri is expected to be sworn in today. But since parliament was adjourned until Tuesday next week, his only hope is being sworn in at the speaker’s chambers.
“God willing, I’ll be sworn in by the end of today whether in the chambers of the speaker or the boardroom, I’ll be sworn in today” Wadri added.
