Gunmen attack sub county court chairman, kill his wife

Police in Kakumiro District are hunting for gunmen  who attacked the family of Mpasana Local Council III Council Court chairman and shot his wife dead.

Two armed men invaded the home of Mr Charles Magembe, a resident of Mpasana in Mpasana Town Council and shot dead his wife, Rose Nakabito.

Narrating his ordeal, Mr Magembe said that on Wednesday at about 9 pm as he was watching news on TV, two men came to his home claiming that they wanted to deliver some court documents to him.

‘‘My wife came to the living room and told me that there are some armed men outside. I peeped through the window and asked them what they wanted. The men asked me to get out and receive the documents from Masindi Court,’’ Mr Magembe said.

Mr Magambe who was suspicious over the armed men’s presence came out of the house with a spear ready to confront them.

However, he said, one of the men fired one bullet which sent everyone in disarray.

In order to save his life, he hid under the bed of his children. He said that his wife followed him while making an alarm. At this point, according to Mr Magembe, the armed assailants followed them and fired several bullets under the bed and hit his wife who died as residents attempted to rush her to Kakumiro Health Centre IV.

Mr Magembe who is also the Bugangaizi East Saaza chief in Bunyoro Kingdom suspects that the assailants were targeting him over his recent judgment in a land dispute that was before Mpasana Town Council LCIII court.

The Local Council Courts Act 2006 established the Local Council courts for the administration of justice at local levels.

Kakumiro District Police Commander, Mr Twaha Buyinza confirmed the incident.

He said that investigations into the case are progressing.

‘‘With the cooperation of the community, we shall be able to get the assailants. There are no arrests that have been made so far,’’ Mr Buyinza said.

Crime rate

In October 2020 armed men robbed Shs16 million from a businesswoman in Kuhuna Trading Centre in Kakumiro District.

On April 7, 2019, two people attacked Mr Moses Mugisha, a mobile money operator at Mpongo Trading Centre, Kakumiro District and robbed him of Shs1.3 million. The attackers also shot and injured two people who were part of the group that was trying to pursue them.