Prime
Father of nine died after bullet ripped his stomach
He lay on the road for long after being shot
LAWRENCE LUBEGA, AKA BOY
He was a 22-year-old man who was allegedly a notorious criminal in Kyotera Town Council, in Kyotera District. Those who knew him say he was a pickpocket who targeted women to steal their handbags.
“He always used the mbadiya (choke-hold) method to steal. He also broke into people’s homes at night,” says a friend, who prefers to speak in anonymity .
However, his aunt, Pauline Nakato, says Lubega worked at a maize-milling machine at Bethlehem Stage. “He was an obedient boy. He would visit me and spend the whole day chatting,” Nakato says.
His uncle, George William Ntaage, says Lubega was someone who loved cracking jokes. “I will miss his jokes. I doubt that he deserved to die the way he died and I wonder why no government official or security official has ever visited us,” Ntaage says.
Witnesses at Bethlehem Stage say Lubega was involved in the rioting.
“[The] boy first had lunch at one of the makeshift restaurants in town while people were burning a few tyres on the road. After, he got up and told us, ‘Ngenze bbalumba.’ (Literally translated as: I have gone to attack them),” a friend says.
Lubega was shot in the leg. He lay on the road for a long time, although he was not yet dead. Towards dusk, his friends approached a councillor, Miller Kigoye, who put Lubega in his pickup truck, and took him to Kyotera Medical Centre.
Dr Ambrose Katwiire, the director of the hospital, says by the time Lubega was brought in, it was too late.
“We tried all we could to help him, but unfortunately, he died. No one knew who his relatives were, so the body stayed overnight in the hospital. The councillor returned in the morning and took it,” the doctor said.
Kigoye spent the whole day searching for Lubega’s relatives until he found his mother, Rose Nakintu, in Kifukamiza Village. Lubega was buried in the same village in Buzinranduulu Parish, Kasaali Town Council, in Kyotera District.
Father of nine died after bullet tore his stomach
MARTIN WEKIKYE
The 52-year-old had a business of selling water and washing cars at a field next to his home. The field was also used for overnight parking at a modest fee.
Wekikye was living in his own home that had been bequeathed to him by his late father. He was married to Rose Mirembe and they had nine children. Mirembe says her husband was not into politics and he hated the chaos that came with riots.
“When the rioting began (on November 18), he kept on calling on the youth not to riot,” Mirembe says of the husband’s last hours.
The widow says she later left her husband sitting outside her shop and went home.
“Witnesses told me that a soldier, whose intention was to shoot at one of the youth instead shot at my husband. The bullet hit him in the arm and then tore his stomach.”
As Mirembe was coming out of the bathroom, she received a telephone call informing her that her husband had been shot. He had died on the spot.
Wekikye was buried in Musima Village, Wanyange Parish, Mafubira Sub-county, Jinja District. Mirembe says when they reported the case to the police, they were informed that Gaddafi Barracks in Jinja District was carrying out investigations into the shooting.
25-year-old loses life after prayers
FAISAL BWANIKA
The 25-year-old had no wife and children at the time of his death. He was a farmer and trader, growing ginger, which he used to sell in Kampala.
Witnesse say at about 8pm, on November 19, a group of youth began rioting in Kyabadaaza Town. When the police came to disperse them, they shot bullets at the crowd.
Najib Nsubuga, a friend of the deceased, says: “The rioters ran and hid behind the buildings in the town. One of the policemen, attached to Kyabadaaza Police Station, came across Bwanika in one of the pathways.
“He was coming from the mosque where he had gone for prayer. The policeman shot him in the head. He died on the spot.”
Nsubuga says locals identified the policeman who had shot Bwanika and wanted to lynch him.
“The policeman ran into the police station. To this day, we have never seen him,” he said.
Bwanika was buried in Kyabadaaza Village, Budde Sub-county, Butambala District.
THOSE WHOSE RELATIVES OR FRIENDS COULD NOT BE FOUND
1. Katwe Wansi, Makindye Division, Kampala
2. Lemmy Musisi, 24, Kasubi, Rubaga Division, Kampala
3. Fred Nsubuga, 19, Zamarik Road on Nakivubo Channel
4. Absolom Kasirye, 21, Mengo Market, Rubaga Division
5. 2 unidentified person at Nkangwa’s garage in Mukono
