The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Congolese national who was gunned down in Bukasa-Muyenga in Makindye division on Wednesday night by his security guard could have been a victim of a plot by fellow gold dealers, according to residents.
Siviwe Katembo, 33, was shot dead together with his girlfriend whose identity is yet to be identified. Their driver escaped with serious injuries as he tried to get away from the scene. Kampala Metropolitan Deputy Police spokesperson Luke Owoyesigyire says they have since arrest Raphael Okwanga, a private security guard attached to the D-GAP Security group for the shooting.
Although Okwanga has confessed to shooting his bosses out of anger after annoying him, residents have called for thorough investigations. Stephen Oryem, a close neighbor to the deceased who was among the first responders to the shooting told Uganda Radio Network-URN that it was around 2:00 am when he heard about five gunshots in the neighborhood triggering panic in his household.
He explains that a few minutes later, he called some military officers guarding the home of Richard Todwong, the National Resistance Movement-NRM Secretary-General, who fortunately also moved out after hearing the gunshots. He says that he also summoned courage and moved out to establish what had happened.
“When I moved out of the fence, I found the military officers standing in the middle of the road. But shortly, we saw the security guard running away. We chased him in anticipation that he was a thief. We brought him back and started questioning him why he was running away. He only said they annoyed him and he killed them,” said Oryem.
He explains that they called the Officer in charge of the Bukasa Police post who came and took the suspect before a team of detectives from Kabalagala police arrived. Oryem says that upon opening the gate, they found two bodies in the house while the driver was outside bleeding.
They rushed the driver to Cairo clinic from where he was transferred to IHK hospital for better management. Police took the deceased’s bodies to Mulago National Referral Hospital for postmortem.
According to Oryem, after the shooting, Okwanga hid his firearm in his boss’ vehicle. He wonders why his security firm didn’t show up at the scene in the night even after being notified.
Other residents led by Ronald Matovu suspect that other Congolese nationals could have been involved in the murder mission. He says the deceased has been dealing in the lucrative Gold business with other Congolese nationals but developed a misunderstanding recently, which forced police to intervene.
According to Matovu, Katembo’s former partners impounded his vehicle with the help of police leading to verbal exchange and a scuffle inside his residency.
Patrick Luyinda, one of the area leaders says there is need to improve the pay of the security guards to protect them from being lured by bad people into deadly missions.
Moses Katusiime, another resident said most security guards report on duty while drunk, which makes them prone to causing such mayhem.
Owoyesigyire says that the suspect is in custody at Kabalagala police station on murder charges pending further interrogations.
“The crime scene has been secured for further analysis. Some of the exhibits have been submitted for analysis at our Forensic Services laboratory,” Owoyesigyire said.
Incidents of private security guards turning their guns on their bosses are common in Uganda. Police attribute such incidents to poor training of the guards and underpayments.
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