Family Of three Shot Dead in Lyantonde

By Davis Buyondo

Lyantonde

Shock gripped residents of Kakyaza trading center in Kinuuka sub-county on Thursday night as unknown gunmen attacked and killed three family members in cold blood.

The deceased have been identified as Justus Ssendege,27, his wife Evelyn Ekyampayire Evelyn, 27, and cousin brother Robert Mubiru (40).

According to Paul Kangave, the Masaka Regional Police spokesperson, the incident occurred at around 2am.

He said that the flying squad has launched a manhunt for the assailants.

 “We visited the scene, and recovered three cartridges of AK47 which the killers used,” he said

Kangave added that they picked the bodies and took them to Lyantonde hospital for postmortem.

However, the thugs did not take anything from the deceased’s house.

Kangave said the actual motive of the assailants is yet to be established, as investigations.

He appealed to the public to aid police with information that may help in arresting the assailants.

In May, President Museveni passed out 6000 LDUs to improve security in different communities.

However, residents claim that the shooting happened amid the regular presence of Local Defense Unit officers (LDUs).

Paul Ssekandi, a Human Rights Activist in Lyantonde, has appealed to the police to strengthen night patrols in a bid to arrest suspected criminals.

It is further argued that several guns have been stolen from police officers in Rakai and Kyotera posts and used for unlawful acts in the region mainly robbery and murder.

In May, the flying squad in Masaka district arrested five Congolese nationals for masterminding a series armed robberies in which five people died.

The suspects were identified as Muwomba Mungu, a cook at Good Foundation School in Nyendo town, and Ssemivumbi Mwizi, a cleaner at Kitovu Hospital and resident of Bujja village in Mukungwe sub-county plus three others.

They hail from the province of Kivu in Eastern Congo adding that sneaked into Uganda in 1994 where they have stayed illegally since.

They were tracked since February following public outcry but sixth others managed to disappear.

Detectives discovered a Sub-Machine Gun (SMG) which the group was using to terrorise Nyendo, Bwala, Bulayi, Kirumba, Lwanunda, Kayirikiti, Kayunga and other communities.

In the subsequent search, operatives also recover several rounds, a hummer, a dagger, and face masks, forged national identity cards for Uganda and D.R.Congo in addition to other suspicious items from their hideout in Bujja.

Masaka RDC Herman Ssentongo said the suspects would mainly target retail and wholesale shops, mobile money shops, cars and brand new motorcycles.

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