Ugandan dies after setting fire to himself over motorcycle impounded over Covid-19 violations

Masaka Central Police Station in Uganda, where motorbike taxi driver Hussein Walugembe committed suicide by setting himself on fire. Picture: Twitter/@mlnangalama

Masaka Central Police Station in Uganda, where motorbike taxi driver Hussein Walugembe committed suicide by setting himself on fire. Picture: Twitter/@mlnangalama

Published Jul 4, 2020

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Kampala - A Ugandan man has died after

setting fire to himself in a police station when officers

allegedly demanded a bribe to release his motorcycle, which he

was using as a taxi and which had been impounded over violation

of coronavirus restrictions.

The case has provoked anger among Ugandans who say it

reflects widespread abuse by security personnel, including

beatings, detentions and extortion that in the current climate

are often disguised as enforcement of coronavirus regulations.

The rider, Hussein Walugembe, had recently acquired his

motorcycle and it was being driven by a colleague when it was

impounded on Tuesday for violating a dusk-to-dawn curfew,

regional police spokesman Nsubuga Mohammed said.

On Thursday, Walugembe came to the police station in the

town of Masaka to claim the bike but was frustrated by some

police officers who demanded he pay a bribe, Mohammed said.

After his pleas to the police officer responsible for

traffic violations to release his bike were rejected, he doused

himself with gasoline, which he concealed in a container in his

jacket, and set himself on fire.

"He attempted to grab the officer, for them to die together,

but he escaped with minor burns, leaving the victim behind," the

national police headquarters said in a statement.

Police are investigating allegations of "extortion and

bribery" at the station, the statement said, adding that two

police officers have been arrested. Masaka is about 130km south of the capital Kampala.

Uganda implemented one of Africa's strictest lockdowns to

curb the coronavirus and has kept infections relatively low at

under 1,000 cases, with no deaths. The government has loosened

some of the restrictions but some remain.

Critics have accused President Yoweri Museveni's government

of using the pandemic to repress rights and harass opponents

ahead of a general election due early next year. 

Reuters

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