By Spy Uganda
City Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago has dragged government spokesperson Ofwono Opondo to the High Court seeking damages worth 500m over the assault during a political talk show on one of the local TVs last week.
For some of our viewers who didn’t watch the show, Ofwono and Lukwago were caught in an argument on whether or not the NRM engaged in activities of ballot stuffing and arresting opposition supporters in the Soroti City East by-election.
After a sequence of counterarguments, Ofwono told Lukwago to shut up or else risk being thrown out of the NBS TV studios. Shortly after, Ofwono got up from his seat to approach Lukwago in his seat and the show ended abruptly. Hours after, Lukwago revealed in a statement that Opondo beat him to a pulp.
“Out of the blue, [Opondo] sprung up, charged at me and threatened to evict me from the studios. He pushed his hand into the pocket and around his waist, in a manner that suggested he wanted to draw a pistol at me,” said Lukwago adding, ”I dared him to shoot at me. He instead pounced on my neck and attempted to strangle me. I did not fight back but instead struggled to wriggle out of his grip. He then punched me in the chest and grabbed both collars of my jacket while huffing and puffing like a cobra.”
In his suit, Lukwago explains that the DPC Kira Road Police Station together with his operations commander Aden Muzawula showed up with several police officers and liaised with Baryomunsi to evacuate him to his home at 1am. He contends that Ofwono violated his rights to liberty and subjected him to ridicule something he says can’t tolerate.
“That the applicant as the Lord Mayor of Kampala and Advocate of the High Court of Uganda was subjected to ridicule, odium, and denigration by the action and conduct of the respondent/Ofwono,” says Lukwago in his application further stating, ”the Respondent/Ofwono pounced on my neck and attempted to strangle me, kicked me in the stomach, and grabbed my jacket as he pulled me from my chair, I maintained my cool and tried not to engage in a fist fight but concentrated on shielding my face with my palms.”
Now, Lukwago wants the court to declare that the actions of Ofwono while on air lowered his reputation in the eyes of the right-thinking members of society and as the current Lord Mayor, High Court Advocate, Vice President Forum for Democratic Change-FDC, former MP, and former Shadow Attorney General in 8th Parliament. The Lord Mayor also wants the court to order Ofwono to offer him a public apology and cough UGX500m for ‘staggering’ on him.
