By Spy Uganda
Our impeccable sources at Next Media have told our reporter that Government Spokesperson Ofwono Opondo, commonly known as OO by close friends, is still a frontliner despite his ‘rotten’ behaviours that saw him thumping City Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago live on air recently. Frontline is a talk show on NBS TV that runs live every Thursday night, and OO, according to our sources is likely to take his seat again starting tomorrow. “He’s still a Frontliner, as to whether he was repremanded for his actions,I can’t answer,” a source told our Spy on phonee.
Lukwago has since dragged the errant spokesperson to court on criminal and civil charges and demands over Ugx 500m in damages.
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 risks 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 and 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.
“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,” adds 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.”
From the above background, Lukwago asked the court last week to declare that the actions of Ofwono while on air lowered his reputation in the eyes of the right-thinking members of society. He also asked court to order Opondo to apologize publicly and also pay UGX500m in damages.
