Lwengo district chairmain, George Mutaabazi has spoken out for the first time about his arrest aboard a RwandAir flight from Kigali to Entebbe International airport, denying reports he was taken off for beein drunk.
Social media platforms have been awash with a video showing Rwanda Police officers handcuffing the no nonsense Lwengo district chairman on claims that he was drunk and bundling him off a RwandAir flight.
However, Mutaabazi who says he was on official duty, rubbished the reports saying it was a case of mistaken identity and that he wasnt drunk.
“I happened to have travelled to Bujumbura for a two days conference organised by the Secretary Generals Assembly, on ea Communities. I travelled via Kigali and on my way back, i had five hours delay in transit and…i walked out of the airport. i came back and checked in for my flight back to Entebbe on time. While on the plane, there was a problem of probably mistaken identity and i was aksed to get off the plane,” He says in a video making rounds on social media following the incident.
Mutaabazi added, “In the process i questioned why, i thought i would not just walk away like that so there was a scuffle and in the process i made an alarm because i was worried, i didnt know where i was going. The reason i made that alarm was to attract the attention of my fellow passengers, just in case, so that in case something happened to me, they would know. But when i talked to the security officer, they realised there was no problem.”
The chairman who is now in Uganda thanked district chairpersons for the concern showed over the incident nad urged members of the public to ignore social media reports that he was drunk.
RwandAir posted on its Facebook page saying the Lwengo district boss was bundled off because of his ‘disorderly behaviour.’
“In order to ensure the safety of today’s flight WB464 to Entebbe and of our passengers onboard this flight, the passenger George Mutaabazi was disembarked from the aircraft due to his disorderly behaviour. He was later rebooked on WB452 that departed earlier today,” the message on the company’s Facebook page reads.
