In the night of 26th May 2020, a group of drunkards in Kyankwanzi district at Gala trading Centre attacked a joint patrol of police and UPDF who were enforcing the night curfew in the area. On arrival at the centre, a UPDF Maj Robert Nkwasibwe who was commanding the patrol at the time was seriously clobbered on the head and neck rendering him unconscious.
Part of the group who were drinking in Gala trading centre disregarding the curfew rules, came behind Maj Nkwasibwe, hit him with an object from behind, forcing him to helplessly fall onto his back unconsciously. He was rushed to Hoima referral hospital for further management. Reports indicate that Nkwasibwe could have sustained serious head and neck injuries.
The patrol would later make arrests of 04 women, 08 men while others ran away leaving behind 08 motorcycles and 03 bicycles. They were all impounded and taken to Rusozi police station with some exhibits of Alcohol.
In the same area, a civilian identified as Rwaburandure Disan 58 old, was recovered from a ditch on the road side where he had fallen while fleeing the patrol. It is said that he was drunk and had soiled himself. However, the soldiers retrieved him and handed him over to his relatives one Nkamuhabwa Edward who is also the area secretary for Defence and one Katamba Samuel his son. On a sad incident however, Rwaburandure was reported dead at 3:00am in the morning.
Preliminary Medical reports from a police surgeon in Kyankwanzi indicated that he died of dehydration and was anemic plus other related complications caused by drinking alcohol while on ARVs drugs. A postmortem report is awaited from Kiboga hospital. The said Rwaburandure is known for over drinking in the centre and had been previously assaulted by unknown people.
The Police and UPDF are currently currying out further investigations of the incident.
This is the 70th attack on security forces since announcement of lock down and presidential directives to prevent and control the spread of the deadly Coronavirus amongst Ugandans.
UPDF, Police and other security forces have often times called upon the population to desist from flouting the directives for the sake of their lives and avoid being confrontational. This puts both the forces and wanainchi on the risk of contracting COVID 19 as well as injuries from attackers or even uncalled for injuries resulting from self defense by the forces.
