John Nzey’imana Kamara the Bufumbira North Member of Parliament in Kisoro district on Monday evening stormed Kisoro Police Station demanding the release of nine people who were arrested in land wrangles in his constituency.
Kamara stormed the police station at around 5pm demanding that police release the nine people from Nombe village in Kirundo Sub County that included Nicholas Twesiime, Aloyizi Manikule, Bernat Nyiranzagaha, Joy Tushemererwe, Innocent Garubanda, Valence Hareimana, Peter Byaruhanga, Sipilian Barugahare and Bonita Mbonigaba who had been arrested by police for encroaching on Kafuga Forest Reserve.
The MP Kampala (c) with the arrested suspects at the police station
The MP says Police had no reason to arrest the residents over the land which had been handed to them through a court ruling by Charles Wako, the Kisoro Grade Two Magistrate in November last year.
On night fall, the MP declined to leave the police station and indeed spent the night there until in the wee hours of the morning when the suspects were released on police bond.
The Forest reserve in question
Kamara told us that as an MP, he had the obligation or protecting his people from the twisted arm of the law and exploiters.
Jane Acan the Acting Kisoro DPC says the suspects were put under preventive arrest as a way of avoiding bloodshed after another group had begun mobilizing to attack them because they were cutting down a forests reserve.
The DPC added that the suspects had been reported by Nombe Primary School that they had encroached on school property and cut down its trees.