By Mulengera Reporters
A report authored by two ISO operatives operating in Elgon zone has pinned and implicated armed guards working for Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) on acting brutally during enforcement operations.
The Friday ISO report, which has been sent to the President’s Office in Kampala and is copied to the Bududa area RDC, indicates that on Friday at 11.20am, a group of heavily armed UWA guards, deployed to protect the nearby National Game Park, engaged in an argument with residents who were digging in a nearby garden.
This argument escalated into violence when the six UWA guards, led by a one Milton Mukonyi (renowned for his notoriety), pulled the trigger and shot at the unarmed peasants who were digging in their gardens. The ISO report indicates that the aim was to kill the victims though they narrowly survived death by the grace of God. The ISO report calls on Police CID to investigate and inquire into the motive of this attempted murder.
The victims are an old man and his two sons. These include 60-year-old Mzee Stephen Wesiba and his sons namely Watasa Wesiba and Geoffrey Wambi. The two sons are aged 18 and 20.
Mzee Wesiba was shot to the point of his intestines coming out and was left for dead. His two sons were badly shot in the leg-Watasa’s left leg was broken and the same happened to Wambi”s right leg. The trio has since been admitted to Bududa General Hospital since Friday and their condition remains critical.
They are all residents of Bubuya village Bukhaukha Sub County in Bududa district. According to Godfrey Wamono, Zubair Matsanga and other ISO operatives who authored the report, the brutality unleashed by UWA guards was witnessed by old man Stephen Wesiba’s daughter Mary Shisa.
Area residents appealed to the President to do something, including pressurizing the Tourism Minister, to diminish on the brutality with which UWA guards always act towards residents who live near these gazetted and protected National Parks.
“These people were in their gardens which are merely near the National Park forest area which isn’t an offence but they ended up fatally wounded because the UWA guards were unreasonable and unwilling to listen, which is very dangerous. We demand that the UWA top management takes up this matter and pays for the medical treatment for our three residents and also goes ahead to compensate them to avoid unnecessary litigation against the government,” said one of the area elected leaders when asked to comment on the Friday shooting.
The elected leader wondered why UWA guards would be quick to unleash so much violence yet there was no provocation at all. “Gratefully, CID has gotten involved and we hope that the comprehensive truth gets established and culprits severely punished to deter others from committing similar brutal acts in future.” (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
