Moses Simbwa, a resident of Jinja whose images have been flooding the media especially on social media with severe injuries on both his legs has raised several debates after revealing information emerges.
Some social media users have argued that Simbwa’s appearance in Nairobi and being paraded by National Unity Platform (NUP) as a torture victim is a fabrication as many know him to be an accident victim.
Faruk Kirunda, the Deputy Presidential Press Secretary, on 26th November 2022 tweeted, “They say Lies take the elevator but truth takes the stairs and arrives faster.”
Kirunda’s same tweet read “The case of Moses Simbwa, a well-known accident victim from Jinja paraded as a victim of torture in Nairobi is one such glaring example. Big shame! FK.”
The controversial statement by Kirunda put social media to a standstill and forced an investigation into the Simbwa case.
According to a local publication, Simbwa was paraded on 17th November 2022 during the Uganda Human Rights Accountability Conference which was organised by the Kenya Human Rights Commission at Ufungano House in Nairobi. Those in attendance included Bobi Wine, Rtd Col. Dr Kizza Besigye, Rtd Gen Mugisha Muntu and leaders of Azimio, among others.
Simbwa while appearing on one of the local televisions confessed before the Kenya Human Rights Commission that he is a torture victim of the 2020 November riots that occurred in Kampala. The videos went viral on social media which unleashed facts about Simbwa.
Who is Moses Simbwa?
Following numerous debates from social media users, details have emerged about Moses Simbwa, a Ugandan by origin born on 29th September 1986 and a resident of Gabula village, Jinja West parish, Jinja Central sub-county in Jinja Municipality, Jinja District.
A close associate to Simbwa who preferred anonymity disclosed that before the accident, Simbwa worked as a boda-boda rider and operated a mowing machine. He also used to play football for Kasindu Football Association at Kasindu play ground while still in Gabula.
He added saying, Simbwa was a notorious Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) supporter that organised and led riots in Jinja and burnt tyres. He at one time led a notorious gang that used to terrorise people in Jinja City.
He further noted that Simbwa is Kizza Besigye’s personal friend and a close relative of Betty Nambooze.
He also revealed that Simbwa and Besigye are so attached that Besigye bought him two motorcycles for his political activities. Simbwa’s close connections with Besigye has proved him as untouchable before the people in Jinja.
The day of the accident
Some of the people who know Simbwa right from Jinja have pointed out that he got involved in an accident in 2021, while on his way from a friend’s burial in Kangulumira, Kayunga District as he was riding a motorcycle and attempted to overtake a sugarcane truck but rammed into a Subaru that broke his leg into three parts.
People attest that Simbwa was rescued by Police in Njeru which rushed him to Jinja Hospital where he was admitted in ward three while his motorcycle was taken to Njeru Police Station.
Other people stated that Simbwa was being assisted financially by Col. Dr Kizza Besigye and other FDC politicians, LCI and Kakindu Football Association while in hospital because he could not afford to facilitate himself.
Sources allege that Simbwa spent eight months in hospital where he was later picked by Dr. Kizza Besigye, brought to Kampala and started living in Kosovo village, Salaama parish, Makindye Division in Kampala City.
Simbwa paraded as a torture victim in Nairobi
A source within FDC who attended the conference revealed that Simbwa ended in Nairobi after NUP failed to get real torture victims to present before the Human Rights Commission in Nairobi.
He said that they started getting victims of other fatality cases and offered to pay them if they accept to confess that they are torture victims. Besigye was to attend because they have been working together with Bobi Wine for regime change, and since Simbwa is an accident victim and a close friend of Besigye, he was called to be among the victims presented.
Basing on continued media debates, NUP has for long been known for deception with an intention of displaying the ruling government as unscrupulous. It has on many cases fallen victim of falsifying torture victims. For instance, they presented Zigwine whose demise was as a result of an accident which is contrary to torture as they claimed.
Concerns have also been raised about Richard Ssebuganda, a medical student at Makerere who lost his hand to a teargas canister explosion while throwing it at Police during the Makerere ‘Open for all’ strike which occurred on 8th February 2022. Ssebuganda was recently paraded by NUP in Nairobi as an alleged torture victim on 17th November 2022.
According to security personnel,these and many other cases confirm that the alleged torture victims paraded by FDC and NUP on various platforms are not victims of torture but a ploy .
