Police to blame for Freedom City tragedy, says DP

Addressing the media at the party’s head offices in Kampala, the Uganda Young Democrats (UYD) president, Ismael Kirya, said Police were responsible for whatever transpired because they approved the event without carrying out proper analysis on potential risks to the revellers at the venue.

Kirya said DP condoles with families of the deceased, and asking Police to release the event organiser Abbey Musinguzi (better known as Abitex) because he is not responsible for what happened.

“The first to blame should be security itself but all their blames are on the event managers and event organisers as if they are the ones who accredited themselves. All events on 31st every year are accredited by the security,” Kirya said.

On December 31, 2022, at least 10 people were reported dead while 12 others were injured following a stampede at Freedom City in Najjanankumbi during a rush to get out of the building to watch fireworks ushering in the New Year.

According to Police, most of the dead were children but there are discrepancies in the number of the dead reported by the force and those shared by relatives of the deceased.

Yesterday, police confirmed to have arrested Abbey Musinguzi aka Abitex the event organiser over alleged negligence.

Families of the deceased have each been compensated with sh5m following a directive from President Museveni. This was revealed yesterday by the Vice-President Jessica Alupo who delivered the President’s message.

The matter is still under investigation