MITOOMA
When a video showing an alleged abandoned police station in Kashenshero Town Council, Mitooma District, started circulating on social media, especially TikTok, it caught public attention and raised questions about police presence and officers’ alleged absenteeism.
For journalist Hillary Twinamatsiko of the Daily Monitor, the viral footage was more than just a social media conversation. His editors assigned him to follow up the story, verify the claims and uncover what was happening on the ground.
Twinamatsiko did not set out alone. He reached out to fellow journalist Sympathy Ahereza, who was familiar with the area, and together they travelled to Kashenshero to establish the facts.
Their reporting journey began with conversations with local residents, who willingly shared their experiences and observations. With the information gathered, the journalists proceeded to meet Kashenshero Town Council Mayor Allan Asiimwe, popularly known as Gen Don Van Allan, the person who had recorded the video that sparked the debate.
What started as a routine fact-finding mission soon took an unexpected turn.
As the journalists headed towards the Mayor’s home, they were reportedly intercepted by police officers.
“Stop!” they were ordered.
Moments later, the two journalists say they were forced into a vehicle and taken to Kashenshero Police Station, where they allege they were assaulted.
They claim they were punched, pushed against walls, assaulted in different parts of their bodies, had their phones confiscated, and their reporting equipment damaged. They also allege that they were subjected to humiliating treatment while in police custody.
“We were forced to eat Mandazi while they blocked our noses,” Twinamatsiko recounted. “They forced us to hand over our gadgets and delete the footage. My camera lens was vandalised. My colleague Magezi did not even have any footage on her phone but she was also punished.”
For Ahereza, the assault was beyond physical to sexual; “The clothes were torn and they (officers) squeezed my breasts,” Ahereza recounted the bizarre and painful ordeal.
After the ordeal at Kashenshero Police Station, the journalists were eventually transferred to Mitooma Police Station, where they were charged under the computer misuse act, a law that was declared null and void by the constitutional court in 2025. They were later released on police bond and instructed to report back to the Officer in Charge of Criminal Investigations on Monday.
What began as a search for answers about a police station’s operations turned into a confrontation between journalists and the very institution they had gone to scrutinise.
Regional Journalists React
Journalists from the greater Bushenyi region have also condemned the incident and demanded compensation for the damaged equipment.
Joseph Nahabwe, a journalist based in Sheema District, criticised the actions of the officers and called upon senior police leadership to investigate the matter.
“As journalists, we are trying to serve the people of Uganda by providing information. We condemn any acts of violence against journalists carrying out their lawful duties,” he said.
He added that the media and police should work together in the public interest rather than operate in conflict.
Police Playing Hide and Seek Games
Despite physical signs of torture and attempts to report the matter to police against the individual officers involved in the incident, the Police Standards Unit in Bushenyi is still playing cat and mice games to block the victims from filing a formal complaint while defending their own.
“Our comrade has today gone to greater Bushenyi Police Standards Unit (PSU) And Has Been Swinged around saying that he should wait for regional police officers and heads of security to first finish their investigations before he can register his case with them,”
The PSU however later accepted to register the complaint, following pressure mounted to them by local journalists, and other press freedom activists.
“Good news,The police proffessional standards unit (PSU) has registered our colleagues Hillary and Sympathy assault case. This is what we have been fighting for,” one of the journalists confirmed.
Journalists Body Demands Actions
The Uganda Journalists Association (UJA) condemned the incident, saying it violates constitutional guarantees on press freedom and access to information.
“This act blatantly violates the constitutional right to freedom of the press and access to information as enshrined under Articles 29(1)(a) and 41 of Uganda’s Constitution,” said Emmanuel Kirunda, the Secretary General of UJA.
According to UJA, police officers are public servants funded by taxpayers and must remain open to public scrutiny through the media. The journalists body argues that the actions by police officers in Mitooma silences independent journalism while shielding culprits of absenteeism from public accountability.
The association demanded that the Inspector General of Police, Abbas Byakagaba, the minister of internal affairs, Ephraim Kamuntu immediately investigate the allegations and ensures that all officers involved are held individually accountable.
UJA also called on police to foot the hospital bills of the victims and issue a public apology on the matter.
Regional PRO Pleads for Mutual Relationships
The Greater Bushenyi Regional Police Spokesperson, SP Apollo Tayebwa said he was engaging the victims, and called for cordial relationship between the police and media.
To date, police in the Greater Bushenyi region have remained tight-lipped regarding the allegations. In a sudden twist, Parrots Media has learned that the Regional PRO, SP Apollo Tayebwa, who had initially pledged to investigate the incident, has been abruptly transferred to Makerere University as a political commissar. He has been replaced by ASP Godfrey Asiimwe Muteera, who steps in as the Regional Community Liaison Officer (CLO). While the timing is conspicuous, it remains unclear whether SP Tayebwa’s sudden exit was directly triggered by the fallout from the Mitooma incident.
