Nyendo police station on the spot over death of suspect in cells

Masaka, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Nyendo police station in Masaka city is on the spot over the controversial death of a suspect in detention. Joseph Ssentongo was found dead on Tuesday morning after spending two days in police custody.

He was arrested over a debt of Shillings 200,000 he owed a fishmonger in Nyendo market. Ssentongo’s death has drawn concerns from his associates who are accusing the officers at the station of torturing him leading to his death.

Pascal Kagenda, the chairperson of Nyendo Market Fish Dealers Association, who worked closely with the deceased accuses police officers of participating in the torture of the suspect before dumping him in the cells where he was again assaulted by other suspects.

He alleges that the suspect could have been beaten by police personnel to force him to pay money which he couldn’t raise.

Kagenda and a team of vendors from Nyendo market are demanding a clear account of the circumstances surrounding Ssentongo’s death. They also want the force to meet the costs of his burial arrangements.

Huzairuh Mwanje, the representative of market and Mukudde ward to Nyendo-Mukungwe division, argues that police have failed to give a proper account of what happened to the suspect before his death.

According to Mwanje, while police allege that the suspect was injured in a fight with other inmates, they cannot account for the whereabouts of the said inmates and didn’t even record a statement about the incident.

But Innocent Mubangizi, the head of Crimes Investigations Department-CID in Masaka district says that preliminary reports suggest that the suspect died from Masaka Regional Referral Hospital where he was rushed on Tuesday morning following a fight with fellow suspects.

Mubangizi says that his office has taken over the investigations into the incident. He appeals to the complainants to give time to the investigators to conclude their findings.

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