Uganda Police has said that Kyadondo East member of parliament commonly known as Bobi Wine will not be allowed to hold his consultative meetings in an open place.
On Monday, there was teargas, live bullets and running battles between the supporters of People Power movement and the security operatives as the former was scheduled to hold its first meeting at Gayaza Parish grounds
Robert Kyagulanyi, also known as Bobi Wine the leader of the pressure group was arrested together with others however they were later released very late at night.
Addressing the media on Monday, the force’s spokesperson, Fred Enanga said these consultative meetings are supposed to be conducted in the enclosed venue.
He accused Bobi Wine for failure to follow the guidelines that were given to him by Electoral Commission although the legislator and his team claimed to have met all the legal requirements.
“We would like to inform the public that there are some provisions of the public order management act and assemblies that were not fully met by Hon Robert Kyagulanyi and his team,” he said.
Enanga said that according to the public order management act, notifying the police of a public venue, there are certain requirements which one should notify the Inspector General of Police in advance.
“It is a simple request where somebody should indicate the dates, time, duration, the location, the size, that is the number of personnel, the purpose and the other basic information which is justifiable on such grounds to ensure the smooth conduct of a public meeting,” he said.
Enanga also elaborated that the venue that was chosen by People Power movement was an open place whereby police couldn’t permit the pressure group to continue with its nationwide consultations.
“One of the conditions that were not met was that the Electoral Commission had guided on having closed venues for consultations which our colleague here was not able to fulfil because if you are going to a playground, this is an open place,” he said.
Enanga said it is on record that the force has been working together with a number of political parties and actors citing an example of FDC event that was held at Namboole to mark it’s 15 Years in existence.
“Just recently, we had a very successful event with Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) at Namboole where we teamed up with them, we assessed the venue and they had a very successful event of over 2000 delegates,” he said.
