DP refuses to occupy its offices

The Democratic Party has refused to occupy its offices until it confirms that all the property initially in the offices is intact. Meanwhile the Inspector General of Police has refused to apologize to the Democratic Party for taking over their offices for close to a month saying he cannot take the blame on behalf of someone else.

The occasion that was meant to be a peaceful handover of the opposition party's offices instead accusations were traded between police and the Democratic Party.

After a tour of the offices by the Inspector General of Police and the Party leaders with the former minister Mayanja Nkanji as witness, DP established that so many of the party belongings were missing.

But the IGP, Maj. Gen Kale Kaihura looked ready to open a new page with the Democratic Party, adding that there was no need to allow this issue to escalate. He said police was willing to work with the Democratic Party to replace the missing property.

After patiently listening to his remarks, the party's legal Advisor Erias Lukwago expressed disappointment that the comments didn't include an apology something that sparked off an exchange between the two.

A joint team has been set up to oversee the return of the party belongings. The DP maintains that 7th June 2008 will remain a black day in the party's history as the day when their party offices were taken over by government. The minister of internal affairs will officially oversee the handover of the party offices on Thursday.

The DP's disagreement with police stems from the seizure of the party's property on June 7 th as the opposition party attempted to hold arally at the Clock tower to celebrate court ruling that declared nullified powers of the police to grant permission to hold rallies.