Top Buganda Kingdom Chief Shot Dead In Lungujja , Assailants On Motorcycles Whisk Off

The Buganda Kingdom chief, Omutaka Lwomwa Daniel Bbosa, has been fatally shot in Lungujja, Rubaga Division, Kampala.According to eyewitnesses we interviewed, the perpetrators were riding motorcycles.

This pattern of killings dates back to April 20, 2012, when Sheikh Abdul Karim Sentamu was gunned down at William Street in Kampala. He was a renowned Muslim scholar, and his assailants fled the scene on motorcycles.Two years after Sheikh Sentamu’s assassination, Hajji Abubaker Kiweewa was shot dead inside his supermarket in Kyanja by motorcycle-riding gunmen.

The year 2012 marked the emergence of a new modus operandi for murder in Uganda. To date, more than 15 Muslim clerics and security officials have been assassinated in a similar manner.

Below is a summary of prominent figures in the Muslim community, military, and police who have been killed by gunfire:-

Abdul Kadhir Muwaya, a Shiite Muslim sect leader, was gunned down on December 25, 2014, at his home in Mayuge district, Busoga subregion. His killers arrived and fled on motorcycles.

Sheikh Mustafa Bahiga was shot dead by gunmen on motorcycles at a mosque in Bwebajja, en route to Uganda’s Entebbe Airport, on December 28, 2014.

Joan Kagezi, a principal state attorney, was fatally shot on March 30, 2015, at a fruit stall in Kiwatule, Nakawa Division, Kampala. The perpetrators used motorcycles and remain at large.

Sheikh Abdul Rashid Wafula, the Imam of Bilal mosque in Mbale town, was gunned down outside his home gate on May 21, 2015. Witnesses reported that the assailants arrived and fled on motorcycles.

Sheikh Hassan Kirya was shot dead on June 30, 2015, in Bweyogerere, now part of Kira Municipality. Once again, the assailants used motorcycles, and no one has been convicted for the killings of Muslim clerics.

Maj Muhammad Kiggundu was killed on November 26, 2016, in Masanafu, Lubaga Division, Kampala, alongside his bodyguard Sgt Fred Mukasa. They were ambushed while driving in a military pickup.

Four months later, Assistant Inspector General of Police, Andrew Felix Kaweesi, was killed on March 17, 2017, in Kulambiro, Nakawa Division, Kampala. He was accompanied by his bodyguard Kenneth Erau and driver Godfrey Mambewa.

In 2018, Arua municipality member of parliament Col Ibrahim Abiriga was shot dead by assailants on motorcycles near his home in Kawanda, Wakiso district. No suspects have been arrested.

Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Muhammad Kirumira, former Buyende District Police Commander, was killed by assailants on a motorcycle. He had repeatedly expressed concerns about his safety. ASP Kirumira was one of the youngest prominent figures to be killed by motorcycle assailants until the recent killing of Gen Katumba’s daughter, Brenda Nantongo, in her father’s military vehicle.