Parliament Wednesday adopted a motion asking President Yoweri Museveni to recall Uganda’s Ambassador to Burundi, Retired Maj General Matayo Kyaligonza (in featured photo) and be prosecuted together with his body guards after they filmed assaulting, Sergeant Esther Namaganda, a traffic police officer in Seeta, Mukono over the weekend.
In a statement to Parliament, the Minister of Internal Affairs, Gen. Jeje Odong said Kyaligonza’s two aides had been arrested and the shamed General had been summoned to make a statement to Police.
However, the statement angered MPs, who questioned why General Kyaligonza hasn’t been arrested.
It is at this moment that Paul Kamugo, Chairperson of Uganda Woman Parliamentary Association (UWOPA) tabled a motion recalling Kyaligonza as Uganda’s ambassador to Burundi.
The session was chaired by Speaker Rebecca Kadaga.
While tabling her motion, Kamugo commended Namaganda for professionally executing her duties and for exhibiting high level of professionalism.
The Budaka Woman MP said: “I think there is an attack on the dignity of women. You can imagine a man who has fought for so many years to lay his hands on Namaganda. Why would such a man lay his hands on a woman who is on duty?”
Although the UPDF had argued that Kyaligonza was a retired General and that the Force had no way of dealing with him, this argument was quashed by MPs like Mugabe Kahonda saying the UPDF Act still recognizes him as a reserve force and can still be held accountable for his actions.
Lira District Woman MP, Joy Atim said that Kyaligonza isn’t the only male person beating up women but there are several men like Kyaligonza’s in the country.
She said: “As women we have suffered in the hands of brutal men. They undermine women irrespective of their positions. These are men who don’t respect women at home. I don’t think what happened could have happened to a man. I ask the Minister that why do you take little rats to prison and leave the cat. Can we see general being taken to court for brutalizing a woman in this country?”
Over the weekend, video clips and photos made rounds on internet that showed Kyaligonza and his two guards holding the collars of Sergeant Esther Namaganda who had stopped them from violating traffic regulations.
