Woman killed in Luweero machete attack

Police in Luweero District are investigating the attack in which a 50-year-old woman was killed in Wampamba zone, Wobulenzi Town Council on Wednesday.

Margaret Nakiyingi was attacked from her rented room at around 8pm, according to Savannah region police spokesperson Sam Twineamazima.

“Unknown persons attacked Nakiyingi near the entrance of her rented room. She was cut using a machete by an unidentified attacker, leaving her dead. Her head was almost cut off,” he explained.

While residents say the incident could be in connection to an existing land dispute within her own family, police on Thursday said the motive of the attack is not known.

“We appeal to the public to volunteer information that could help police arrest the suspect and find the motive of the attack,” Twineamazima told Monitor.

Irene Nabulime, a primary school teacher and relative to the deceased revealed that Nakiyingi had been involved in a land dispute with some of her siblings but her death cannot be directly linked to the matter.

“A section of the members of the family are already pointing accusing fingers as they prepare the final sendoff of our Nakiyingi. Land issues are now very delicate. The police have already invited some of the family members to make statements,” she said on Thursday.

Wobulenzi Town Council authorities told Monitor that the deceased had been previously attacked by suspected assailants who torched her house two years ago.

“Nakiyingi must have been a victim of a long unresolved dispute that has culminated in her death. We are in a region where land disputes account for more than 80% of the security concerns. Some of the land disputes involve family members fighting their own relatives,” Moses Ssebalamu, the Wobulenzi Town Council LC3 Chairperson said.

By Thursday evening, police had recovered a blood stained machete believed to be the killer object at the scene.

Luweero Resident District Commissioner (RDC) Richard Bwabye has called for the strengthening of the neighborhood watch program to strengthen security within the communities.

“It is regrettable that the attacker took advantage of the victim who was staying alone while the neighbors were some distance away,” he observed as he denounced the crime.