There was tension in Kapchorwa District in Sebei Sub-region on Thursday following reports of the alleged abduction of the Chairperson of the National Unity Platform (NUP) Electoral Commission and former Woman Member of Parliament aspirant Harriet Simba Chemutai.
Ms Chemutai is reported to have been picked from her home in Kokosojon village, Munarya Sub-county in Kapchorwa District on Wednesday night by armed men suspected to be security operatives who allegedly questioned her on the whereabouts of NUP president Robert Kyagulanyi, also known as Bobi Wine.
Mr Kyagulanyi who has rejected the results of the January 15 presidential polls in which he finished second after President Museveni was declared the winner with 71.65 per cenet, escaped from his home in Magerere, Wakiso District on Janary 16 following a military raid. His whereabouts is still unknown.
According to Lucias Chebet, a relative of Chemutai, several unidentified armed personnel stormed the home while she was in the sitting room watching a movie.
Chebet said the men forced their way into the house, searched several rooms, confiscated Chemutai’s phone, and ordered her to stand up and leave with them.
‘She asked them who they were and why they wanted her to leave the house at that time. She was seated and also on her phone, but before they took her, they first confiscated it,’ Chebet narrated. Police in the region said they had not received an official report regarding the alleged abduction.
The Sipi Regional Police Spokesperson, Fredmark Chesang, told Uganda Radio Network that although information had circulated on social media, police were still waiting for a formal complaint to be lodged.
‘We have not received any report of a kidnapping. We have seen the information on social media, but we are yet to verify it. We shall give an update after verification because as of now, no case has been reported,’ Chesang said.
However, tension escalated in Kapchorwa town as residents blocked the Kapchorwa-Mbale highway, demanding information on the whereabouts of Chemutai.
An eyewitness, who asked not to be named for security reasons, said the road blockade followed alleged police indifference and negligence after the family attempted to report Chemutai’s case.
‘The family went to report the case at Sipi Police Post, but officers allegedly refused to register it at night, asking them to take it to Kapchorwa Central Police Station instead,’ the witness said.
The party Secretary General, David Lewis Rubongoya said on Thursday morning that Ms Chemutai had been held overnight and dumped in Mbale District.
“After being abducted and held overnight, comrade Chemtai Harriet has been released. Her crime? She was suspected of hiding Bobi Wine in Kapchorwa or Mbale. So after getting her in Kapchorwa, they grabbed her phones, drove her to her home in Mbale, checked everywhere and went through her phones. She says they were over 50 armed men. They were asked her where he’s hiding and eventually dumped her in Mbale, with threats that she will face dire consequences if she is lying to them. The abuse!” Mr Rubongoya said in a post on X.
ICYMI: NUP rejects presidential results but rules out court challenge
LIST: ‘3,000 NUP supporters in jail over unknown charges’
The alleged abduction comes amid growing concern over the recent disappearance and alleged kidnapping of several NUP members in different parts of the country, particularly during the ongoing political period.
NUP leaders have repeatedly accused security agencies of targeting their members, claims that government and police authorities have consistently denied, insisting that arrests where they occur are lawful.