Chaos ensued outside the offices of the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights in Kampala when military police pounced on journalists that were covering the National Unity Platform President Robert Kyagulanyi presenting his petition before the commission.
On Tuesday, Kyagulanyi announced that he would present a petition at 10:00am today to the UN High Commission for Human Rights over the continued abduction of his supporters across the country.
However, police which warned against processions last evening deployed heavily in all areas around the offices
Kyagulanyi arrived at the UN offices a few minutes to 1 p.m, and only his vehicle was allowed access as the rest were blocked.
Derrick Nyeko, the Makindye East MP-elect who was also in the procession left crying also when military police descended on his vehicle, shuttering one of his car windscreens.
Military withdrew from the scene leaving security in the hands of the police which mounted a human blockade near the Ethiopian Embassy barring anybody from accessing the UN High Commission for Human Rights Offices.
Journalists who had pitched camp behind the human blockade waiting for Kyagulanyi to leave the building which was quite some distance from where they were, were later chased away after at least 30 minutes of waiting.
However, two military vehicles with about 20 officers returned to the scene and then drove away towards the UN office before making a turn about 10 minutes later.
The vehicles stopped and the commanding officer jumped out of it demanding that everyone leaves at once. Before he could finish the sentence, the military had already pounced on journalists and everybody whipping them with batons indiscriminately.
NTV journalist John Cliff Wamala was hit on the head causing a deep cut, while NBS’s Josephine Namakumbi, Daily Monitor’s Irene Abalo Otto, and Amina Nalule among others were also assaulted.
According to Namakumbi who was in great pain, they pleaded with military to stop beating them because they were journalists, in vain.
According to journalist, the military after chasing them to about 300 meters from where they had camped, withdrew and again left the police to man the security.
15 minutes later however, they returned and chased them further away from the new spot where they had converged trying to catch some breath after a long chase.
This is not the first time that the military is assaulting journalists especially those covering Kyagulanyi as the same happened during the presidential campaigns when Kyagulanyi was visiting different parts of the country.