How dramatic raid of Masaka shop left guard, worker dead

Those inside the hardware shop and others watching the World Cup football round of 16 match between Spain and Russia scampered for cover and safety.
It was 8pm on Sunday night when the employees at Muto Hardware on Buddu Street in the heart of Masaka Town abandoned shop and fled.
Abdul Ssemwogere, one of the employees, says multiple gunshots rang out as gun-wielding men stormed the hardware, dashed straight to the counter, and ordered the cashiers to hand over all the cash.
“The thugs knew banks don’t operate on Sundays so they suspected that all the money for the day’s sales was still stashed somewhere in the shop, and their guess was right,” he said in an interview on Thursday.
“We all suspected the attackers were targeting our boss [Moses Kalisa, the proprietor of Muto Hardware], who was also inside the shop. So we dashed and shielded him from any attack,” Mr Ssemwogere said.
He said a visibly frightened Kalisa, now held at gunpoint by the robbers, ordered the cashiers to surrender all money as the robbers had demanded.
“The attackers wore masks and we could not easily see their faces, but they were about four with two inside the shop while another two remained outside keeping watch,” Mr Ssemwogere said.
After ransacking the shop, the thugs stormed out of the shop and swiftly jumped onto their motorcycles and sped off.
But outside the shop, security guard Moses Musinguzi lay dead and so was a worker Shafick Kiggundu, both in a pool of blood.
Kiggundu died of over bleeding while he was being taken to Kitovu hospital.
Mr Kalisa says they are yet to establish the amount of money the thugs looted from his Muto Hardware, the biggest construction store in Masaka.
It also has branches in Kyotera and Lyantonde towns.
Mr Hajabu Lusiba, who runs a shop on the same street, says he did not take it serious and thought the bullets going off were only car tyre bursts.
But he says he was shocked to hear people at the shop shouting and this could have angered the armed robbers to shoot Kiggundu to scare away others.
“It’s scary that robbers can launch an attack in the middle of the town and kill two people without police intervening to save them. It reminds us of machete-wielding assailants who have been terrorising this area in the past months. We really don’t know who may be attacked next,” he added.
Mr Lameck Kigozi, the Southern Region police spokesperson, said the police has asked Mr Kalisa, the hardware owner, to hand over the CCTV footage at the store to aid investigations.
“We launched a hunt for the gunmen who also stole a gun from a reserve force guard who was killed in the attack, but the investigations have not yet yielded much. We are hopeful the robbers will be apprehended soon,” he said.
Mr Kigozi also allayed fears of traders in Masaka, saying police was on top of the situation.
“I ask traders to stay calm because police and its sister agencies in the area are containing the security situation,” he said.
The poor security situation in Masaka sub-region had normalised in the last three months after security agencies strengthened motorised and foot patrols, which brought to an end a spate of attacks on residents’ homes by machete-wielding assailants.
The thugs would also distribute anonymous leaflets, warning residents prior to the attack. Similar attacks have been experienced in other districts in the past months.
On New Year’s Day, the assailants descended on four villages in Bukomansimbi and Lwengo districts, killing five people including a retired senior police officer and leaving 11 others injured.
The police say the attacks are engineered by robbers.
Recently, President Museveni vowed to end what he termed as rural and urban terrorism and ordered the police to end the attacks and killings in the sub-region.