It has been more than six months since the opposition leader Dr. Kizza Besigye’s car was in police custody. The police took it during protests against the country’s rising commodities prices.
On June 14, 2022, political activists Samuel Lubega Mukaaku and Besigye, the leader of the Red Card Front pressure group and a four-time presidential candidate, were protesting from Shawriyako in Downtown Kampala against the increasing price of commodities.
It is when the car was taken and trucked to the central police station (CPS) along Buganda Road.
The court was asked by Besigye’s attorneys led by city lord mayor Erias Lukwago, to order the police to release the car because the prosecution had failed to list it as an exhibit that was required in the case.
This was in late October and because the car was taken by the police Besigye was having trouble getting around. This prompted the Buganda Road court to rule that the vehicle should be returned to the legitimate owners in whose name it is registered.
But more than a month later, Mukaku claims that police have refused to return the car, claiming that they are still looking into it. He claims that the police are certain that they need the car for part of their inquiries.
Mukaku said that they have requested the court for the car and the court ordered to release it. But when they went to the police station with the court order, the police refuses to release the car for unnecessary reasons. According to Mukaku, they are persecuting the families and those whose lives depend on the vehicle.
Patric Onyango, a spokesman for the Kampala Metropolitan Police, claims that Besigye’s team failed to bring the car’s legal owner as the court had instructed.
Obed Kamulegeya is the owner of the car and the car is registered in the number UAK 773F. According to the spokesperson, the car was examined by the inspector of vehicles and due to its modification judged to be unfit to be on the road. Because of that, it is de-registered.
He didn’t know exactly what about the car was inappropriate, but he did mention that it was equipped with megaphones.
But this car differs from the well-known ‘Beast,’ a Land Cruise with the registration number UAN 661V that Besigye customized with wire mesh on the windscreen and loudspeakers put on it.
However, an affidavit signed by Lawrence Tuhebwe, one of the police officers involved in the vehicle impoundment, supports Onyango’s allegation.
According to Tuhebwe, the vehicle was examined by the vehicle inspector and declared to be unfit for the road. Additionally, he claims that Besigye disputed ownership of the car when he was arrested and that the car was given a search warrant stating that the owner of the car is unknown.
The police do not properly describe the steps taken to deregister the vehicle, although the chief licensing officer of the Ministry of Works and Transport is responsible for registering automobiles.
When a car is deregistered, the owner must return the license plate and take the car from the register. The Traffic and Road Safety Act of 2020 allows for registration and cancellation upon the destruction or long-term removal of motor vehicles.
According to the act, if any registered vehicle, trailer, or engineering plant, is destroyed, rendered permanently inoperable, or removed permanently from Uganda, its owner must notify a licensing officer right away and deliver the vehicle’s registration book to the officer.
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Senior Vehicle inspector Nathan Tumushabe of the Ministry of Works and Transport explains that if a vehicle is being exported to another country,It might be deregistered, in which case the Ugandan number would no longer be functional.
The government owes the number plate, which is returned when the car is deregistered. When a car is deemed as a total loss, its registration can also be canceled.
According to Tumushabe, insurance firms are the ones who typically write off vehicles after conducting a value to examine and determine that they are irreparably damaged. He continues by saying that a car may be deregistered if its owner willingly requests that it be done through the Ministry of Works and Transport.
When a person believes their car cannot be fixed because it has been damaged beyond repair or when they no longer wish to use it because it is too old, they might do this.
According to Tumushabe, the owner of an unsafe vehicle is merely advised to get it repaired before resuming use. The chief licensing officer or the public relations officer could not independently confirm to URN that this vehicle had been deregistered.
Once a vehicle has been de-registered, it cannot be licensed to drive again without being re-registered and having a new registration fee paid.
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