Locals want compensation for bullet injuries at Kabamba

“Every day we receive cases arising from live ammunition whose fragments injure residents or destroy their property. The recently reported case happened when President Museveni visited the academy during a pass out of cadets. About four houses, banana and coffee plantations got destroyed,” Mr Othman Hamuza Kitakule, the speaker of Kasambya, said on Friday.

“We are living in fear yet this land belongs to us and we have nowhere to go. We pray that government compensates us for the damages or buys for us alternative land and we leave this place,” he added.

Last month, two tins of smoke bombs, which residents reportedly picked as scrap from Kabamba shooting grounds, allegedly exploded in a metal scrap store at Katwe Central Village.

Narrow escape
Mr Paul Kiveyiganga, the shop owner, was hit with fragments and falling debris as he escaped.

Mr Nathan Ssekajja, the chairperson Kamusongole Parish, said since military academy authorities changed the direction of shooting grounds five years ago towards residential houses, they have not had peace.

“It is hard to determine who will be injured the following day. Some people have abandoned their houses for fear of being hit by stray ammunition fragments,” he said.

Ms Proscovia Nalweyiso, a resident, is nursing injuries she allegedly sustained from bomb fragments.
“When I was digging on June 21 last year, I suddenly saw a red object hovering over my head and it hit the ground with a loud bang a few metres from where I was standing, I fell on the ground and a few minutes later, I saw blood oozing out of my thigh,” she said. Ms Nalweyiso said her neighbours took her to Mubende Regional Referral Hospital.

“The surgical operation cost me Shs500,000 and up to now, I’m still undergoing medication, but authorities at the military academy have not bothered to pay me a visit or help clear the medical bills,” she said.

Brig Deus Sande, the cantonment commander Uganda Military Academy -Kabamba, regretted the incidents, saying efforts are being made to guarantee safety of residents.

“We do not intend to cause damage to our neighbours. During the shooting exercise, we normally take care of our neighbours, but it is unfortunate that this time round, some stray bullets damaged some property. We are still investigating to find out what exactly went wrong,” he said.

Brig Sande, however, said some residents graze their cattle or cultivate too close to shooting grounds.

“Some [residents] have a tendency of sending little boys to the shooting ground and remove what they call scrap. We are advising them that whenever they come across something they do not understand, let them report to us as soon as possible because those items are extremely dangerous,” he said.

The academy was established in 2007 by merging the Cadet Officer School, which was originally at Jinja with the Uganda School of Infantry, originally housed at Kabamba.

It prepares and qualifies cadets to become combat officers capable of commanding their units.

VOICES
Ms Aisha Namata , a resident of Kakikoba Village in Kamusongole Parish, said when stray ammunition killed her granddaughter on January 9 ,2017, military academy officials gave her a bag of maize flour, beans and Shs1 million to cater for burial arrangements. “They promised to compensate me for the loss of my granddaughter, but I’m still waiting up to now,” Ms Namata said.
Mr Suleiman Kato Mutebi, a resident of Kakikoba Village in Kamusongole Parish, said he sought refuge at his neighbour’s house after his was destroyed. “I was lucky that this kind of accident happened during day time when I was outside the house otherwise, I could have died,” Mr Mutebi said.