Kampala, Uganda | URN | Gunmen who killed Gen Katumba Wamala’s daughter and his driver trailed their vehicle for over 4 kilometres, the deputy Inspector General of Police (IGP), Maj Gen Paul Lokech, has revealed.
The former minister for Works and Transport and former Chief of Defence Forces (CDF), on Tuesday 1, June 2021 narrowly survived death when masked gun-wielding men showered Gen. Katumba’s vehicle reg. no. H4DF 2138 with more than 20 bullets along Kisota road in Kisasi, a Kampala suburb, killing on the spot his daughter Brenda Nantongo, 27, and his driver Haruna Kayondo.
Gen Lokech basing on police preliminary findings said, the incident happened between 8:47 am and 8:58 am. Gen. Lokech in a statement said the assailants trailed Gen Katumba’s vehicle as soon as it left his home at Bulabira-Najeera until when they reached a remote location about 4 kilometers along the Kisota-Kulambiro road.
“This is the first major shooting since 2019 and we strongly believe it was a targeted and not random incident. The assailants who were 4 in number were riding on two motorcycles with concealed number plates, pulled up next to Gen Katumba Wamala’s car and shot several bullets that instantly killed Nantongo Brenda and Haruna Kayondo,” Gen. Lokech said.
Gen. Lokech has said a team of police experts from the directorate of CID and forensic is thoroughly documenting the scene for traces of evidence. Security attributes the shooting to four armed assailants who managed to escape.
Soon after the shooting, Gen. Katumba was rushed to the nearby Malcolm Clinic in Kisasi before he was transferred to Medipal International Hospital along John Babiiha Avenue near the Golf Course.
Gen. Katumba in a video message from his hospital bed said he was out of danger but asked Ugandans to pray for his wife who was terribly hurt by the news of the incident. President Yoweri Museveni like he does after every such high-profile murder described Gen. Katumba’s attackers as pigs.
President Museveni said he had talked to Gen. Katumba and was well-being managed. Mr Museveni also expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that Gen. Katumba’s bodyguard Sgt Khalid Kaboyoit shot in the air instead of killing at least one of the assailants.
“The pigs who do not value life shot at Gen. Katumba killed his daughter and driver and injured him. The bodyguard should not have shot in the air. He should have shot to kill. We could be having a dead terrorist instead of scaring away the terrorists. His shooting saved Gen. Katumba by scaring the criminals away,” Gen. Museveni said.
Read Also: Why were Gen Katumba Wamala’s bodyguards missing? Army puzzled
Gen. Katumba is not the first high-profile Ugandan official to be attacked by armed gunmen riding on motorcycles. On March 17, 2017, unknown gunmen trailed and shot dead the former police spokesperson, Andrew Felix Kaweesi, his bodyguard, Kenneth Erau and driver, Godfrey Mambewa.
The trio was gunned down, a few meters from Kaweesi’s home in Kulambiro in Kisaasi, a Kampala suburb. Kaweesi’s assassination followed the nearly a carbon copy murder of former state prosecutor, Joan Kagezi in 2015 and Major Muhammad Kiggundu in 2016.
In June 2018, unidentified assailants also gunned down Arua Municipality member of parliament, Ibrahim Abiriga in a similar manner.
