Rider seeks justice for skull injuries sustained during curfew enforcement

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | A man who was allegedly beaten by police officers while rushing a sick person to the hospital during curfew time is seeking justice after sustaining life-threatening injuries on the head.

Nelly Julius Kalema, a resident of Bukoto II parish in Nakawa division was taking his colleague’s wife to a hospital in Kisaasi at around 9 pm a week ago when he was intercepted by two police officers on patrol along the northern-bypass and beaten to a pulp.

According to Kalema who is currently admitted at Malcolm Hospital in Kisaasi, a suburb of Kampala, the two unidentified police officers hit him with batons giving him no time to explain why he was riding a motorbike with a passenger during curfew time. The officers were riding police motorbike Reg. UP-4999

Kalema says that in the process of apprehending him, he hit his head on the road barricade and sustained an injury on the head while the woman broke her leg and is currently admitted at Mulago Hospital. He says that after the accident, the officers pulled them to the roadside where they were found by a samaritan.

Kalema adds that medics at Malcolm hospital have advised him to seek proper medication and a brain scan to establish the intensity of the damage. However, he is helpless and has no money to seek advanced treatment for the injuries.

Kalema now wants the officers to be pursued to clear his medical bill. He says that he already established that the police officers who beat them up were from Kisota police post near the Kampala Northern Bypass.

Kampala Metropolitan Police Spokesperson Patrick Onyango has declined to comment saying his yet to be briefed about the incident but advised Kalema to open a case file at Kira road police division.

The government has maintained a nighttime curfew which starts from 7 pm to 6:30 am everyday as one of the interventions to control the movement of people at a time when the country is faced with an outbreak of COVID-19. The measure comes with heavy deployment of Police and Local Defence Unit Personnel across major streets in Kampala.

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