Edith Byanyima, sister to Winnie, wife of former FDC presidential candidate Col Kizza Besigye, has skipped a second scheduled meeting with police to record a statement clarifying her earlier claim that Acholi soldiers killed her nephews Joseph and Matthew Kanyamunyu’s father.
The Kanyamunyus, and Cynthia Munwangari, are accused of fatally shooting Kenneth Watmon Akena, a child rights activist. On Monday and Tuesday, Edith was scheduled to report at the Special Investigations Division (SID) in Kireka to record a statement on ‘sectarian statements’ she uttered during an interview with a local online publication, ChimpReports.
“She [Byanyima] was supposed to appear here on Monday to record her statement but she called me and said her [blood] pressure levels had increased. She said she would come today [Tuesday] at 10:00am,” Henry Mugumya, the Special Investigations Unit commander, said yesterday.
Mugumya said he didn’t hear from Byanyima or her lawyers as agreed yesterday.
“We are giving her only today [Tuesday] to appear and record her statement. If she fails to show up, we shall use other means to get her,” he said.
Interviewed on Tuesday by telephone, Byanyima, a sister to Kanyamunyu’s father, disowned her alleged statement, which police claim they are investigating as a case of promoting sectarianism and incitement to violence.
“I didn’t say anything, if they [police] want, let them bring facts where and when I said those words. I have been in touch with police, but I have other commitments and I will go there (SID) when I’m ready,” she said.
“I don’t know what police is calling me for because in their letter they told me to assist them with information,” she added.
Last week, Edith Byanyima was quoted by ChimpReports as having said that her family and friends were in court with the Kanyamunyus because late President Milton Obote’s Acholi soldiers (the late Akena is an Acholi) killed her nephews’ father James Arthur Kanyamunyu, a reputable evangelist and businessman.
The Byanyimas were loudly criticized at court by Acholi MPs led by Samuel Odonga Otto and Beatrice Anywar when they attended the Kanyamunyus’ bail application hearing as sureties for the accused.
Last week, Akena’s family, through their lawyer Ojok and Company Advocates, wrote to the inspector general of police, Gen Kale Kayihura, demanding an investigation into what they called Edith Byanyima’s ‘sectarian’ utterances.
zura@observer.ug