• Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Donate
  • Login
Watchdog Uganda
  • Home
  • News
    • National
    • Politics
    • World News
    • Media Outreach Newswire
    • Africa News
    • Tourism
    • Community News
    • Luganda
    • Sports
      • Football
      • Motorsport
  • Op-Ed
    • #Out2Lunch
    • Conversations with
    • Politics
    • Relationships
  • Business
    • Agriculture
    • CEOs & Entrepreneurs,
    • Companies
    • Finance
    • Products
    • RealEstate
    • Technology
  • Entertainment
    • Lifestyle
  • People
    • Showbiz
      • Salon Mag
  • Special Report
    • Education
    • Voices
  • Reviews
    • Products
    • Events
    • Hotels
    • Restaurants
    • Places
  • WD-TV
  • Donate
  • China News
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • National
    • Politics
    • World News
    • Media Outreach Newswire
    • Africa News
    • Tourism
    • Community News
    • Luganda
    • Sports
      • Football
      • Motorsport
  • Op-Ed
    • #Out2Lunch
    • Conversations with
    • Politics
    • Relationships
  • Business
    • Agriculture
    • CEOs & Entrepreneurs,
    • Companies
    • Finance
    • Products
    • RealEstate
    • Technology
  • Entertainment
    • Lifestyle
  • People
    • Showbiz
      • Salon Mag
  • Special Report
    • Education
    • Voices
  • Reviews
    • Products
    • Events
    • Hotels
    • Restaurants
    • Places
  • WD-TV
  • Donate
  • China News
No Result
View All Result
Watchdog Uganda
No Result
View All Result

OP-ED: The day we survived Abdallah Kitatta

watchdog by watchdog
6 years ago
in Op-Ed
8 0
ShareTweetSendShare
By Andrew Karamagi
“Don’t worry Andrew, it’s just a car…if they destroy it, it’s a material thing that can be replaced,” Nicholas Opiyo calmly responded. I disagreed.
“You haven’t seen what’s happening outside, your car is the closest to the fence…give me your keys right now so I go and move it farther from them!”
Kitatta’s men, about one hundred or so of them, had been baying for our blood all morning but in that particular moment, it appears they had received the attack order.
Our petition against Kayihura’s rights violations could barely proceed. Projectiles and insults were being hurled from outside.
In an instant, we heard that the magistrate’s chamber had been breached. Stationery and equipment were being vandalized. Court officials were being roughed up.
In minutes, the marauding goons would soon be in the main courtroom, one corridor away. The rampage was in full throttle.
An evacuation was ordered. Court officials first. Lawyers and petitioners second.
One lawyer, Kiwanuka Abdallah, if memory serves me correctly, tried to drive out of the courthouse. One of his windows was smashed. There was even an attempt by Kitatta’s armada to physically restrain Kiwanuka’s SUV from moving.
Amidst the chaotic cacophony, Patricia P’Odong asked, “guys, how can we trust Kayihura’s police to evacuate us safely? I’d rather we stay here, lock this courtroom until help we can trust arrives.”
A burly police officer cast a glowering look and barked at Patricia: “follow me now, let’s move!”
We retorted with our fears and told the officer that we didn’t feel safe being evacuated by them.
Nicholas told the visibly worried and irritated police officer that if he wanted to win our trust, he’d have to stand in the same line with us so that we walk out of the building with our bodies close to each other so that any attack would injure all of us equally. Fair game.
We also requested helmets.
We were not going to be sitting ducks and deliver ourselves to Kitatta’s rabid dogs.
The officer obliged and pushed a button on his walkie-talkie, mumbling some orders in Swahili: “rudisha gari hapa kwa mlango!” *Bring the car back here to the entrance. In seconds, a double-cabin truck pulled up and the doors were flung open with the uniformed and armed occupants signaling us to jump in.
Engine revving, lights spinning, we walked single-file and piled up into the cabin. The driver gunned the truck and we snaked our way through the surging crowd of Kitatta’s goons.
We individually picked our vehicles the next day.
The twist of fate in this ordeal is that Hajj Abdallah Kitatta, Life Patron of (the now defunct) Boda Boda 2010, the only Human Lead Car, Land Pirate of Kampala and the Peter Clemenza of Don Kayihura Corleone…didn’t know that slightly over a year after organizing a near-lynching of citizens who were simply seeking to bring to book a rogue Inspector General of Police, he would be detained for more than a year, tried and convicted within less than a kilometre’s radius from the scene of his brazen assault on a Court of Law.
I can imagine Kale Kayihura watching the conviction and sentencing of his henchman from a large plasma screen while sipping a glass of his favourite fruit juice, his leather sofa’s footrest fully extended as his darling wife offered a foot massage.
“Eh, sweetheart, omwaana yagyenda Luzira bambi!”
karamagiandrew@gmail.com

Do you have a story in your community or an opinion to share with us: Email us at editorial@watchdoguganda.com
Share2Tweet1SendShare

Related Posts

Phillip R. Ongadia
Op-Ed

PHILLIP R. ONGADIA: NRM primaries: A necessary evil to test the depth of the river

15th July 2025 at 14:57
Rogers Wadada
Op-Ed

WADADA ROGERS: Telecom operators in Uganda should stop re-assigning customer’s phone numbers

15th July 2025 at 10:17
Richard Musaazi
Op-Ed

RICHARD MUSAAZI: The Uganda’s Military-Style Policing

13th July 2025 at 16:37
Next Post

Belinda Nansasi: From a target of sexual harassment to Queen of Curves

  • Prostitution in Uganda- Courtesy Photo

    10 dangerous hotspots known for prostitutes in Kampala

    1137 shares
    Share 455 Tweet 284
  • Silent Billionaire Bosco Muwonge Buys Mukwano Arcade at UGX 250 Billion Cash Down

    57 shares
    Share 23 Tweet 14
  • Who is Bosco Muwonge, Uganda’s elusive real estate billionaire?

    41 shares
    Share 16 Tweet 10
  • LIST: New salary structure for civil servants starting July 2020 out; scientists, lecturers get juicy pay rise

    2291 shares
    Share 916 Tweet 573
  • Uganda’s Billionaires 2025: Once Again Sudhir Ruparelia Leads a Resilient Pack

    52 shares
    Share 21 Tweet 13
Facebook Twitter

Contact Information

Watchdog Uganda is a portal for solution journalism, trending news plus cutting edge commentaries in the fields of politics, security, business, tourism, entertainment, technology, agriculture, climate change, environment, public health et al. We also give preference to Ugandan community news and topical discussions. The portal also publishes community news and topical discussions.

Email: editorial@watchdoguganda.com
To Advertise:Click here

Latest News

Pearl Tower Business Park owned by Uganda's richest man Sudhir Ruparelia is now complete.

A Tour of Pearl Business Park: Kampala’s Pinnacle of Progress and Prestige

16th July 2025 at 01:43
Mashable is a global, multi-platform media and entertainment company For more queries and news contact us on this Email: info@mashablepartners.com

Check out

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
Minister Muruli Mukasa

LIST: New salary structure for civil servants starting July 2020 out; scientists, lecturers get juicy pay rise

24th May 2020 at 10:45
Pregnant woman

Shock as 17-year old boy impregnates his two sisters during Covid-19 lockdown 

17th June 2020 at 08:17
Sudhir Ruparelia is the undisputed king of Kampala

Billionaire Sudhir’s wisdom on how to invest in real estate

0

How a boy’s destiny turned from cotton grower to communications guru

0
Pearl Tower Business Park owned by Uganda's richest man Sudhir Ruparelia is now complete.

A Tour of Pearl Business Park: Kampala’s Pinnacle of Progress and Prestige

16th July 2025 at 01:43

Rotary New Year Launch Kicks Off with Grandeur at Speke Resort Munyonyo

16th July 2025 at 01:30

© 2025 Watchdog Uganda

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • National
    • Politics
    • World News
    • Media Outreach Newswire
    • Africa News
    • Tourism
    • Community News
    • Luganda
    • Sports
      • Football
      • Motorsport
  • Op-Ed
    • #Out2Lunch
    • Conversations with
    • Politics
    • Relationships
  • Business
    • Agriculture
    • CEOs & Entrepreneurs,
    • Companies
    • Finance
    • Products
    • RealEstate
    • Technology
  • Entertainment
    • Lifestyle
  • People
    • Showbiz
      • Salon Mag
  • Special Report
    • Education
    • Voices
  • Reviews
    • Products
    • Events
    • Hotels
    • Restaurants
    • Places
  • WD-TV
  • Donate
  • China News

© 2025 Watchdog Uganda