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PARLIAMENT
Premier Nsibambi gives Rugunda two weeks to brief MPs on killings
PRIME Minister Apolo Nsibambi has given Internal Affairs Minister Ruhakana Rugunda two weeks to make an official statement in Parliament about the rampant murders in the country.
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| SLAIN IN COLD BLOOD: Robinah Kiyingi |
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| UNRESOLVED MURDER: Dick Katende |
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| HAD RESTORED SECURITY: Kayanja |
Nsibambi, the leader of government business in Parliament, said government is concerned about the persistent murders. We are concerned about people losing life and I am directing the minister in charge to make a statement here in Parliament, Nsibambi said.
Nsibambi's directive was in response to concerns raised by Mwenge South MP Ms Dora Byamukama. She said the rate at which people are being murdered is alarming.
In the last one month we have woken up to the news that people are being deprived of their lives and property. There was the grisly murder of (Robinah) Kiyingi and the Send-a-Cow boss (Samwiri Naswaala) who was murdered on Sunday. We want to know what is happening," Byamukama said.
Last weekend Daily Monitor broke a story, detailing murder statistics. In the last six months (January to June) the police revealed to Daily Monitor that 1,250 Ugandans had been murdered countrywide.
In the last two months alone, Kampala has been rocked by a series of murders - some high profile. To date the city is trying to get over the killing of Robina Kiyingi, shot dead at her residence in Buziga.
Her naturalised Australian husband Dr Aggrey Kiyingi is in jail on murder charges.
On August 13, gunmen shot dead Benon Musisi, a former ADF captain, near his residence in Lungujja, a city suburb. A Kikuubo trader was also shot dead in broad daylight a week ago. A Uganda Young Democrats (UYD) office administrator Vincent Lugonvu was murdered in Namasuba.
Last Sunday the Financial Manager and Team Leader of Send-a-Cow boss, an NGO, Samwiri Naswaala was shot dead by unknown assailants at his residence in Kiira town, Wakiso district.
Police told Daily Monitor yesterday that no arrest had been made yet in connection with the murder. "We are trying to gather evidence with the view of arresting the suspects," the commissioner in charge of Crime, Mr Edison Mbiringi, said.
Kampala Extra Regional Police Commander Benson Oyo Nyeko urged the public to give information to police that will lead to the arrest of the killers of Robinah Kiyingi and Vincent Lugonvu.
"When we bring these culprits to the cells, it will serve as an example to the rest, knowing that they have to be arrested," he said. MP Byamukama told the House yesterday that people were being killed in her constituency over land and otherproperty. She said since elections are drawing near, it is important for government to re-assure people that they are secure.
Police said most murders were committed by shooting, stabbing, strangling, beating and mob action.
In Kampala, police said people kill largely over business deals, love affairs, political rivalry, property and robberies gone bad. In Kiboga, the land disputes are to blame for the rampant killings.
Mr Mbiringi said for the first half of this year, 380 people were charged with murder but there has only been one conviction. He attributed the low number of convictions to lack of evidence to pin suspects. "Murder cases are difficult to prove in court without evidence and take a lot of time to investigate," he said. In 2002, rampant murders and daylight robberies were getting out of control when President Yoweri Museveni tasked Colonel Elly Kayanja to take care of the situation. | 
