Military police shot people at Kasubi, says MP Kyanjo

The revelation came a day after the Military Police Commander, Lt. Col. Michael Kabango, denied involvement of his forces in the incident last March. “We were about 10 MPs who were entering the Kasubi tombs when we started hearing people saying the President was coming. As we were approaching the actual scene, we started hearing gunshots from inside. At this time, there was a lot of confusion, some people running towards me while others running away,” Mr Kyanjo told the commission investigating the burning of Kasubi tombs.

“At that time, I could see Hon. Kaddu Mukasa (MP Mityana) in front of me and Nabilah Ssempala (Kampala Woman MP) on my right hand. Shooting continued and people were in total confusion. The people shooting were in two forms, some were in plain green military clothing and others were in civilian clothing.”

Mr Kyanjo urged the commission to ensure that those who committed the offences be arrested and prosecuted. The MP produced photographs of the people he said were military officers in civilian clothes. He said he saw a military man dressed in a blue shirt, shooting at people.

“After seeing a military man coming closer to me, I saw no need to lie down. I stood up but as I started talking to him why there was shooting, he ignored me and continued to command,” Mr Kyanjo said.
He said the officer commanding the shooting spoke in language that was neither Swahili nor English and he identified him as (Lt. Col. Michael) Kabango upon reading the nametag on his uniform.

Asked what could have caused the conflict, Mr Kyanjo said: “In my view, the cause of the conflict is an entire subject of a coursework. When we reached there, there were voices that the President was coming and people were not contented with his coming. They thought that he could have waited. And so, if the Kabaka had not yet arrived, he should have also waited.”

Commission lead counsel Cheborion Barishaki interjected, telling Mr Kyanjo that when people are mourning, there is no need to ask for permission to join the mourners. But the MP said the deployment of the military caused the chaos. He said the person behind the shooting was in a blue shirt moving with the President’s guards. An earlier video footage produced before the commission captured the same man.

MP Issa Kikungwe, who also testified before the commission yesterday, said the people with pistols were in civilian clothes. He said during the shooting, he and MP Nabilah took cover and only escaped through the banana plantations on Kasubi-Hoima Road. “We all went flat, all our clothes became dirty and suits were no longer important,” Mr Kingungwe told the commission.

Ochom admits
Meanwhile, CID boss Edward Ochom admitted that the investigations were not well conducted. “I think not much was done in the case because constantly we could have had progress reports like other cases which we have (previously) handled,” Mr Ochom told the commission. The commission gave him two weeks to present a report on police investigations on the matter.