By Ahmad Muto
Former Bukedde TV presenter now councillor Makindye West III, Elimia Masembe is nursing an injured elbow after crossing paths with ruthless Local Defence Unit (LDU) personnel that pummelled him to pulp.
According to him, he was beaten when he responded to an alarm by his electorates who were being harassed outside his office. But on reaching there, he was added to the stock of bodies clobbered by the men who expended all their energy on them. He noted that a woman and another guy who claimed to have lost a tooth was part of the statistic.
However, Masembe denied reports that the reason he was pounded was because they caught him having fun with a married woman. He argued that she actually has a husband who is his good friend. And therefore, his only goal there was to save her but he wasn’t recognised in his capacity as Lord Councillor hence getting added to the body count.
“My plea that I am the area councillor fell on deaf ears. I have now opened a case against the LDUs who beat us up because they aren’t above the law. I normally move around with a megaphone at 6pm telling people to pack up and leave the streets. But I became a victim,” he explained.
Luke Owoyesigire, the Kampala Metropolitan Assistant Spokesperson said Masembe saw the DPC to report the case but was advised to first seek medical help and return to lodge a case against the LDU personnel so investigations can proceed.
Masembe is not the first local leader to face the wrath of the LDU. Late last month, the Deputy Resident District Commissioner (RDC) of Ibanda District, Seif Katabazi was beaten by police officers deployed to enforce curfew.
