GAVI CASH: Mukula Supporters arrested over Riots
Mike Mukula was sentenced to four years in jail but later released. HRW says government’s patronage politics and lack of political will undermine the fight against corruption in Uganda
Police is holding four members of the Etem Iteso subcommittee Mukula 118 in Soroti district. The four were picked up last evening ahead of today’s fundraising for the legal fees of Mike Mukula, the jailed Soroti Municipality Member of parliament. They are Julius Ocen, the former Amuria LC V chairperson, Honorant Okello, speaker Soroti Municipality, Jonathan Ebwalu, the former NRM district treasure and Jimmy Oriokot, a former Soroti county MP candidate. Ocen was picked up at Shell Pump station by a group of cops that had trailed his vehicle from Soroti hotel where he had attended a base line assessment meeting for Soroti University. Ebwalu and Okello were detained when they went to Soroti police station to inquire about the arrest of Ocen and Oriokot. Recently, pro Mukula supporters organized a football match to raise the legal fees for the jailed MP. The Mukual 118 team captained by Ocen was expected to take on boda boda football club led by Didimas Erekedia. The former Junior health minister was handed a four year’s jail sentence for alleged misappropriation of GAVI funds. However, his voters blamed the troubles of the MPs on political persecution. Thomas Emadu a member of Etem Iteso subcommittee Mukula 118 has condemned the arrest of his colleagues saying it was uncalled for. Some of the members of Mukula 118 abandoned their homes on Wednesday night to avoid being arrested. Juma Hassan Nyene, the Kyoga East Police spokesperson says that the officials were arrested in connection to their utterances on radio last month. He claims that during the show, the group said President Yoweri Museveni was responsible for the suffering of people in the region. President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni is expected in Soroti on Saturday to fundraise for St. Kizito, Madera Technical School.
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