The Inspector General of Police, Martin Okoth Ochola has ordered Traffic police to conduct separate investigations into the accident that ended the life of Ritah Nabukenya, a member of the People Power political pressure group.
Nabukenya succumbed to injuries sustained in an accident in Nakawa last Monday.
Addressing journalists yesterday, Police Spokesperson, Fred Enanga said the IGP had directed the Traffic police Investigation unit under the command of Assistant Superintendent of Police Pamela Kentaro to conduct a comprehensive probe and ensure the public is informed of whatever transpired on the fateful day.
“The traffic investigations unit has been directed to take over this matter and there have been some good statements,” he said.
“They are doing their very best to identify the rider as well as the motorcycle to consolidate the facts that they already have. We shall have a very conclusive report on the circumstances surrounding Rita’s accident and subsequent death.”
Enanga attributes the police’s failure to produce the CCTV footage to ongoing construction of Nakawa-Ntinda road.
“It was not captured on the CCTV camera along Nakawa Naguru road due to disruptions in the fibre-optic underground cables due to the ongoing construction works in the area,” he said.
Initial information indicates that the 28-year-old, mother of two, was knocked, while travelling on a Boda boda.
She was set to join her colleagues at Buganda Road court where the People Power leader and Kyandondo East Member of Parliament Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu was appearing.
Although eyewitnesses alleged that Nabukenya was intentionally knocked by a police patrol car, Police spokesperson, Fred Enanga, dismissed the claims.
He said the Police only played the role of a Good Samaritan and rushed Nabukenya to Mulago National Referral hospital following a collision between the motorcycle she was moving on and another from the opposite direction.
Police promised to release footage to rule out allegations that Nabukenya had been maliciously knocked by police officers.
However, Enanga made a U-turn, saying the Closed Circuit Television –CCTV cameras close to the scene where Nabukenya was knocked were off at the time of the accident.
His statement caused public uproar with people accusing police of holding onto the CCTV footage to cover up for its men.
Kyagulanyi like many others declined to believe the police explanation regarding Nabukenya’s death describing it as diversionary and a cover-up.
“The grief is unspeakable! Comrade Ritah Nabukenya should not have died in this manner. A young woman, murdered in the most painful way. At such times, the police always come up with ridiculous statements to try and cover up their crimes against humanity,” Kyagulanyi said in a statement on his social media account.
