KAMPALA.
Mavarick Buyaga West County legislator Mr Barnabas Tinkasiimire, who went missing on Saturday and resurfaced on Monday, has revealed he had been kidnapped by gunmen over what he described as criticising the First Son and Chief of Defence Forces (CDF), Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba.
Addressing Journalists on Kampala on Tuesday , Mr Tinkasiimire said more than 10 armed men, some in army uniforms while others in plain clothes, waylaid and arrested him at Rubis filling Station in Makerere in Kampala, where he was waiting for someone to deliver his campaign posters.
“I had just fuelled [refilled] my car and was waiting for a colleague bring campaign posters from Nasser Road. Out of nowhere, armed men surrounded me, and when I resisted, they beat me and forced me into a waiting drone [Toyota Hiace] vehicle.”
The outspoken MP narrated that he was blindfolded, handcuffed and forced in the car amid beatings before he was driven to an unknown location in a room, which he described as an abandoned kitchen-like structure.
However, the Uganda People’s Defence Force ,which Gen Muhoozi heads has since said they were aware of the said abduction and detention of Tinkansiimire .
“I’m not aware of anything like that,” Maj Bilal Katamba, the deputy defence public information officer ,said
While in detention, Mr Tinkasiimire, however, said he was tortured and interrogated about his political stand, specifically, on the comments he made about Gen Muhoozi .
“I still want President Museveni. So in the process, I could have spoken things that hurt him (Gen Muhoozi), but this did not amount to that. You beat me like this, or arrest me like this.
You just call me in his office,” Mr Tinkasiimire said.
The legislator’s allegations come a few months after the Gen Muhoozi who mostly enjoys using microblogging platform X(formerly Twitter) for many of his communications , bragged about illegally detaining Mr Eddie Ssebuffu, popularly known as Eddie Mutwe, in his basement . Mutwe is the civilian bodyguard of the National Unity Platform (NUP) party president Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine. He was later produced before the Masaka Chief Magistrate’s Court in a frail condition.
Mr Tinkasiimire on Tuesday revealed his captors accused him of talking too much about Gen Muhoozi, saying his opinions affect them (captors).
“The conditions for my release were that I should stop talking, that they were going to arrange a meeting with me and the son of the President, which I did not refuse,” the lawmaker revealed.
He added: “I should not speak that they are the ones who arrested me or speak where I was. First of all, I did not know where I was.
They kept me hooded, I was blindfolded, and whatever conversation we had, I was just hearing.”
The legislator said he was later dumped in Namungoona, a Kampala suburb, at around 1am on Sunday and was given Shs10,000 for transport to his home in Kawempe Division.
Mr Tinkasiimire has since threatened to take legal action.
“My wife reported the abduction, and I’ve given a statement. Though I know this file may never be investigated. We’re filing a civil suit in the Uganda Human Rights Commission and the Constitutional Court,” he said.
As he recovers physically and emotionally, Mr Tinkasiimire vowed not to be muzzled.
“You cannot beat and abduct people into submission. I will speak… and I will stand up for what is right for our democracy, for our freedom, and our Constitution,” he said.
Mr Tinkasiimire said he sustained injuries to his head, hand, and back and is currently receiving medical attention.