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Machete-wielding men attack village over land dispute
A police detective (left) carries a matchete believed to have been seized from suspected assailants who attacked Nabusugwe Village in Mukono District on October 8, 2023. PHOTO/PHILIP WAFULA
What you need to know:
- Ms Nakintu alleges that Ms Kyasiimire hired about ten 'goons', each armed with either a machete or spade, to attack her.
- It is alleged that the assailants fled on motorcycles before the police arrived.
Ten machete-wielding men today attacked residents in Nabusugwe Village, Goma Division, Mukono Municipality, Mukono District, in a bid to settle a land dispute between two locals.
Ms Margret Nakintu and Dora Kyasiimire have been locked in a long-standing conflict over a demarcation that separates their properties.
On Sunday morning, October 8, their animosity was brought to the fore.
Ms Nakintu alleges that Ms Kyasiimire hired about ten 'goons', each armed with either a machete or spade, to attack her.
“Just as I was about to enter the bathroom, I heard a man screaming: ‘there she is’, after which a spade was swung, missing my head by inches,” Ms Nakintu said on October 8.
She added; “I rushed to Jinja Misindye Police Post, but it didn’t help me. It was when I approached UPDF soldiers at Jomayi Police Post that I was able to get help, although police from Jinja Misindye later responded.”
Ms Josephine Namukwaya was stoned and her phone destroyed as she was recording the chaos while Ms Irene Nanyombi said she was slapped and kicked by one of the assailants.
Ms Rosette Nanvuma, a daughter to Ms Nakintu said she was beaten in the waist with a big stick.
According to Ms Nakintu, she reached out to the police at about 9am, but it was not until around 1pm that they arrived.
”I am now wondering whether we should start seeking help from the Police or the UPDF,” she said.
A policeman, who declined to be named because he is not authorised to speak to the media, dismissed her narrative as “not true.”
He, however, said they were responding to a distress call that some machete-wielding thugs had attacked the area to defuse a land dispute.
Men stand at the contested land in Nabusugwe village, Mukono District on October 8. PHOTO/PHILIP WAFULA
Ms Rosette Nanvuma, a daughter to Ms Nakintu, accuses Ms Kyasiimire of trying to construct in an unauthorised area despite the family being in possession of valid agreements to the contrary.
“We appeal to the Mukono land office to come and sort out this matter because all our efforts to seek help from other authorities have been unsuccessful,” she said.
Ms Kyasiimire, who operates a hardware business in the area, declined to speak to Monitor as she was being led to Jinja Misindye Police Station.
Earlier there was suspicion that some of the assailants were hiding inside her hardware shop.
The police forced her to open the hardware shop in which she had locked herself for close to three hours.
It is alleged that the assailants fled on motorcycles before the police arrived.
She was later led to Jinja Misindye Police Station amidst gunshots that were being fired in the air to disperse disgruntled residents.
