CHIEF MUMENA SUED FOR ORDERING TORTURE OF THREE SUBJECTS WHO WERE ALSO URINATED ON
THREE people have sued Chief Mumena of North Western Province for allegedly ordering their detention and torture because the trio had court documents perceived to threaten the traditional leader’s authority.
The victims Loveness Mwanza, Lawrence Kamasanyi and Salon Kalusa, want the High Court to declare that their unlawful detention, torture and denial of medical care inflicted on them by the chief constitutes gross violations of their fundamental rights guaranteed in the Constitution.
Ms Mwanza and others further want a mandatory injunction directing the police to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the abuses committed by Chief Mumena.
The three also want the court to order police to initiate appropriate criminal proceedings against the traditional leader and compel the Attorney General to ensure police offer them protection.
Ms Mwanza and others also seek general and exemplary damages and an order for compensation, accompanied by an apology.
They also seek a declaration affirming the duty of the police to uphold the rights of all citizens and to investigate alleged abuses by public and traditional leaders with impartiality.
The plaintiff have cited Jonathan Eshiloni(Chief Mumena) as first respondent while the Attorney General is second.
Ms Mwanza, 56, submits that she engaged in subsistence farming and supporting her family but later suffered severe physical and emotional abuse under the chief’s actions while Mr Kamasanyi, 46, submits that he endured torture and sustained serious injuries, including painful swelling and tenderness in his right scrotum, because the chief’s unlawful actions.
Mr Kalusa, 43, also submits that he was dangerously neglected during his unlawful detention leading to physical deterioration including severe body pains, swollen limbs and heightened health risks due to denial of life saving medication.
The three add that in January this year, they were allegedly forcibly picked from their homes by person acting allegedly under Chief Mumena’s orders.
“This action was allegedly in response to the petitioner’s possession of court documents, which the chief perceived as a threat to his authority,”.
Ms Mwanza and others were detained in an enclosed metal unventilated container under conditions they describe as cruelly degrading.
“While detained, the petitioners were subjected to brutal physical assaults, which included being repeatedly beaten, stomped on, and humiliated. They were soaked in fish water, urinated upon and verbally abused, leaving them in a state of severe physical and psychological trauma”.
Mr Kamasanyi suffered significant injuries, swelling and tenderness in his right scrotum, but was allegedly denied medical care during and after his ordeal.
“The petitioners were eventually released and a formal complaint lodged with the police, however, no follow up action, investigation, or formal charges have been initiated against the first respondent or his associates”.
The trio complains that police’s inaction constitutes a severe breach of duty and denies them any access to justice or recourse for their suffering.
Mwebantu