President Museveni Praises Soldiers for Torturing Bobi Wine in Arua on August 2018.

    

President Museveni at the passout of police officers in Masindi Friday

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President Museveni has praised his Special Forces Command [SFC] guards for properly and legally beating National Unity Platform [NUP] presidential flagbearer, Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine.

“The other day, there was a fracas in West Nile where our young friend Bobi Wine was fighting security people,” Museveni said Friday while passing out police recruits at Kabalye Training School in Masindi district.

“I think they beat him a bit and then they came and said a Member of Parliament has been beaten. I said let me study and see how he was beaten. I found the man had been beaten in the right way,” Museveni explained.

“This was because…I think this was SFC people who are not police-minded. They are used to doing other things. But somehow they managed to act properly, I was surprised.”

When they [SFC] went where this young man was in the room, he had caused problems a day before…so these people [Bobi Wine] tried to box them [SFC]. They [soldiers] also boxed them back until they subdued them.”

“I find these people acted properly in self-defence. They didn’t beat them after that. I think it was in order. It was the other people [Bobi Wine] who was in the wrong.”

Background

In August 2018, Museveni also praised his guards for ‘not being cowards’ and engaging opposition MPs and their supporters in Arua.

Bobi Wine after being tortured by SFC in Arua

Bobi Wine (Kyadondo East), Francis Zaake (Mityana municipality) and Arua MP elect Ezati Kassiano Wadri and their supporters were violently arrested by SFC on allegations that they’d pelted stones at the president’s convoy in Arua.

Museveni was in Arua to campaign for the NRM candidate in the by-election eventually won by opposition leaning independent candidate Wadri.

Following the alleged stoning incident, chaos erupted leading to the shooting dead of Bobi Wine’s driver Yasin Kawuma and the brutal arrest of at least three legislators and over 33 civilians.

The arrested suspects were allegedly tortured whilst in detention, triggering off almost daily countrywide protests across the country and abroad.

The government was roundly condemned within and outside the country for brutalising the suspects and protestors especially Bobi Wine and Zaake who are currently still admitted in hospital.

But Museveni praised his SFC guards, who, he said had no option but to engage the ‘confrontational’ MPs and their supporters as required.

He saluted the SFC that they acted with restraint. That they are not trained to keep law and order but to fight.