JINJA.
Residents in Jinja City are leaving in fear after five people were killed , dozens critically injured.
The attacks, allegedly carried out using hammers and other blunt objects, have claimed three residents in one week this month, with Phillip Waiswa Bamwete, a scrap dealer and resident of Mvule Crescent, being the latest victim.
Mr Baker Kintu, the LC1 chairperson of Mvule Cell, said Bamwete was reportedly attacked at his mother’s gate at around 4am after leaving a bar on December 21. He later succumbed to his injuries that same day.
“They hit him with a paver and dumped his body in the middle of the road,” Mr Kintu said on Monday, while blaming such crimes, especially near the railway line, on the closure of the area police post.
Lawrence Oketcho, an apparel dealer, was also attacked while returning to his home in Bugembe Ward, roughly 1.5KM from the initial crime scene, at around 8:30pm, with eyewitness accounts suggesting that he sustained severe injuries to his stomach. Oketcho was rushed to a nearby clinic, but despite prompt medical attention, he was pronounced dead an hour later. Yusuf Mukasa, a motor vehicle spare parts dealer, was also attacked along the railway line near his home in Wanyange Lake Cell on the night of December 14. Reports suggest that two youth wearing dark hooded clothing ambushed him and struck him on the head with a blunt object before fleeing the scene. He was later found dead.
Survivors narrate ordeals
Mr Paddy Isaac Kasalirwe, a resident of Wakitaka in Jinja City, said he had just handed his vehicle to someone else. As he was waiting for a motorcycle on the roadside, a boda boda rider stopped in the middle of the road, saying his bike was out of fuel and needed to return to get some. “While I was on a call, I was ambushed and blacked out. A few minutes later, I regained consciousness and noticed that my phone was gone. My body was bruised and bleeding. I tried to run, but I was too weak to move,” Mr Kasalirwe recounted. He emphasised the need for improved security in the area, specifically around Wakitaka, Buwekula, Mailo Mbili, and Nile Aluminum Factory, among others.
Ms Farida Namulondo, a journalist with a local radio station in Jinja City, and resident of Buwekula, Namulesa Ward in Jinja City, said she was attacked and robbed of her phones in 2017, 2019, and 2021. In one incident, she said a motorcycle rider pretended to help her place her bag in front, only to speed off with her laptop and documents, and that she has formally filed at least five cases at Bugembe Police Station.
Mr George Mubiru, the assistant resident city commissioner of Jinja, said in over a week, five people, including three youth, succumbed to hammer attacks in Wairaka. The youth were attacked within three days. He described the situation as “urgent” and called for heightened security to stop further attacks and loss of lives.