Mityana,
14th/October/2014;
a Vision Group journalist, Luke Kagiri, was on 11th
October, assaulted by two men claiming to be Ministry of Health
security officers as he covered a story of a man who is suspected
to have died from Marburg. His camera was destroyed in the process
by one of the men, Nkogyo Joseph who was traveling
in a ministry of health vehicle. Another journalist, Enock Matovu of
the Nation Media Group’s NTV used the rear gate of the hospital to
escape the attackers.
Kagiri,
a Board member of Human Rights Network for Journalists-Uganda
(HRNJ-Uganda) told HRNJ-Uganda in an interview that he was attacked
by two men who were traveling
in a Ministry of Health vehicle Registration number UG 3803/M as he
approached the medical workers at Mityana Hospital to find out the
cause of death of the unidentified man, “He warned me against
taking any coverage, lest he breaks my video camera. He immediately
stepped forward and slapped me on the left cheek, he kicked me and I
fell down. When I got up, I just walked out of the hospital, where he
together with his accomplice pursued me further. The other guy got
hold of me, pushed me on the ground and started beating me as Nkogyo
repeatedly hit my camera on the ground; he destroyed it beyond
repair. The duo fled the scene upon arrival of commercial cyclists
who came to my rescue,” Kagiri narrated.
Kagiri
said that the cyclists chased after the vehicle in which the duo was
traveling
which forced them to branch off to Mityana police post. Surprisingly,
Nkogyo further assaulted Kagiri by slapping him four times in the
presence of the police. They later deposited the destroyed camera at
the police. “I used the opportunity to open up a case of ‘assault
and malicious damage to property’. The
two were immediately
released
on bond.
The
Ministry of Health could not own or disown the said attackers, “I
have no details of those persons, I have just heard about the said
attack of the journalist in rumors, but that’s something we can
investigate. Am waiting for the journalist to call me,” The
Ministry spokesperson, Rukia told HRNJ-Uganda in an interview. The
ministry has however ruled out any Marburg outbreak in the country.
The
area police spokesperson, Phillip Mukasa declined to comment on the
status of the investigations into this matter, “ Am not aware of
this matter, no one has informed me about it since I was away in
another district, but let me follow it up.” He told HRNJ-Uganda
“The
police should expedite investigations into this matter and bring the
perpetrators to book. It’s not clear why the duo were blocking any
coverage of the matter if indeed they were from the health ministry.
The ministry should come clean on Nkogyo and his accomplice who took
the law in their hands. HRNJ-Uganda will ensure that justice is
delivered in this matter,” said the HRNJ-Uganda National
Coordinator, Robert Ssempala.
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