The internet has been awash with the kidnapping, or rather abduction, of a political commentator and internet personality, Mr Charles Rwomushana. This unfortunate incident occurred in Bukoto on Saturday, 5 September, at the Radio Simba premises when a group of panellists, together with Rwomushana, were ambushed amid a live radio talk show before he was forced to exit, whisking him away.

A viral video that was shared online shows a group of armed-to-teeth, plain-clothed security operatives showing who possibly was Rwomushana the way out of the studio before one of his captors proceeded to say, "Madam sula bulungi. Tweyanziza!" as if to thank the female staff for making their work easier.

This news immediately called for feedback, drawing sour criticism from some citizens. We interacted with a female journalist, an employee at a local radio about the same, in need of knowing what she thought of such an encounter since it had happened within media premises.

"Condemning something wrong isn't a crime; I think it's time our leaders started taking criticism positively, other than terrifying the whole country because they think they can't be corrected," she responded on the grounds of anonymity, referring to the question of constitutional freedom of speech and association.

According to The Observer Newspaper, this arrest came at a time when "he (Rwomushana) made comments about the ongoing rift about Commander of Defence Forces (CDF) Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba and his brother-in-law Odrek Rwabwogo.”

“Man is never an island. If the people we oppress today didn't exist, what powers would we have?” she added on the issue of co-existence with people of diverging viewpoints. She equally seemed not to be in praise of such an incident, citing its dangers.

“It can actually occur to anybody; even the party or those who claim to be in the ruling government can still be oppressed. I don’t know how best we can solve this other than advocating for a more democratic and oppression-free society,” the source added.

By press time, Daily Monitor had confirmed Rwamushana’s release. But does this answer the legal question of the state legally arresting its citizens? Whatever the case may have been to initiate this, there would have been a fairer way to handle the situation.

The security operatives would have, for example, come clad in their uniforms, informing the person why they were arresting him. Storming the studio was equally unnecessary. Couldn’t they wait for him outside the radio premises?