Assailants shoot at Principal Judge’s car
Principal Judge, Dr Flavian Zeija. Photo | File
What you need to know:
- The vehicle Dr Zeija was being driven in was shot at by unknown gunmen in an uninhabited area on Kampala-Masaka Highway at Mitala Maria in Buwama Sub County in Mpigi District at around 7pm on Saturday.
The Principal Judge, Dr Flavian Zeija, has survived unharmed in what appears to be an attempted assassination after unidentified gunmen shot at his convoy in what police officers said was aimed at deflating the vehicle tyres and bring it to a halt.
The vehicle Dr Zeija was being driven in was shot at by unknown gunmen in an uninhabited area on Kampala-Masaka Highway at Mitala Maria in Buwama Sub County in Mpigi District at around 7pm on Saturday.
The Principal Judge and all the people, including the chauffeurs and guards, he was with were unhurt in the shooting, according to the police and judiciary.
Narrow escape
According to judiciary and police officers, Dr Zeija and his entourage were able to drive to a safe area.
Police and military experts arrived at the crime scene at Mitala Maria at around 9pm to recover evidence and cartridges discharged by suspected gunmen.
Police spokesperson Fred Enanga said the police forensic and counter terrorism teams had secured the scene of crime and they are examining it in detail, but a report on the type of firearm(s) used in the crime haven’t yet been released.
The motive of the shooting is also not known.
By press time, the counter terrorism officers from the police and military were seen at the crime scene.
Judiciary public relations officer Jamson Karemani said yesterday that Dr Zeija was in shock at his home after the incident.
“He is at home. He didn’t get any injuries except the shock,” Mr Karemani said after visiting Dr Zeija at his home.
Background
The incident happened a few days before a memorial commemorative lecture for Joan Kagezi, a senior principal state attorney, who was shot dead in March 2015 in her car as she returned home in the evening in Kiwatule, a Kampala suburb.
President Museveni is the chief guest at the lecture slated for Tuesday.
There have been several shootings at senior public officials. Many of them, including of Arua Municipality legislator Ibrahim Abiriga and Muslim sheikhs, were carried out days before President Museveni was to have a major briefing.
According to Mr Karemani, the gunmen on foot on the roadside first shot at the lead car of the Principal Judge, which had his armed escorts and when the driver didn’t stop, they turned to the one that Dr Zeija was being driven in.
“They started by shooting at the front of the lead car. The lead car managed to drive through [the ambush]. Now, they opened fire on all of the vehicles,” Mr Karemani said.
The shooters, who were on the left side of cars, aimed at the tyres of the vehicle in which the Principal Judge was in, according to police sources.
How shooting happened
Mr Karemani said the bullets went through the lead car and principal’s vehicle, but no one was injured.
The two drivers didn’t stop. The guards also didn’t fire back at the gunmen.
Mr Paul Kinalwa, a journalist and resident near the scene of the crime, said the area where the ambush was carried out is isolated and no local witnesses claimed to have seen the incident.
“The place is on a hilly place and often vehicles slow down. There are like three structures that are distant from the road. Only one house is inhabited. We visited the residents and they told us that they only heard gunshots,” Mr Kinalwa said.
Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo last evening said the Principal Judge was safe at his home and that police investigations had commenced on who could have been behind the attack.
“He made a post last evening (Saturday evening) of how he had been ambushed but lucky enough, nobody was injured, including his security detail. The police have immediately taken up the investigations to come to the bottom of who could have been behind it and the motive,” the Chief Justice said.
