By Madinah Tebajjukira
AN argument over the World Cup final between two men in Wakiso district ended in tragedy when one of them hacked the other to death on Friday night.
Polly Twinomasiko, 32, died instantly after Asuman Ntambi, 35, an army veteran and butcher in Kireka trading centre, slashed his throat with a panga in Kireka B zone.
The two had been locked up in a heated argument over which of the two countries - France or Italy - would clinch gold in last night’s final match.
Residents said it was a disparaging remark by Twinomasiko, that Ntambi, though a Muslim, was a drunkard, that put a tragic twist to the argument.
Hamis Muzamir, an eyewitness, said the remark riled Ntambi, who cautioned Twinomasiko to stop abusing him but his warning went unheeded.
It is then that Ntambi went to his home a few metres away and returned with a machete, which residents said he normally uses at the city abattoir to slaughter animals.
“Now I have come to finish your life. I fight with weapons,” residents quoted Ntambi as saying before he killed Twinomasiko.
Ntambi allegedly dragged Twinomasiko to a nearby water channel and slit his throat open and as blood gushed, he reportedly bragged, “Never play with veterans. We don’t have mercy, we kill anything.”
The 11:30pm incident left residents shell-shocked.
Area defence secretary Kasozi said he heard an alarm and rushed to the scene and instantly commanded a futile search operation for Ntambi.
Jinja Road Police Station deputy CID chief Stephen Kanalo said no arrests had been made, adding that investigations had been launched into the incident.
“We are aware of the incident and investigations are going on. We have got a hint about his whereabouts. I am sure we shall arrest him,” Kanalo said.
He said Ntambi had earlier been reported to the station over murder and was subsequently prosecuted and imprisoned.
Residents implicated Ntambi in four murder incidents, with the last having taken place in 2000.
His father, Kasim Ssekandi, alleged that he (Ntambi) also attempted to kill him over a plot of land. He reported the matter to Jinja Road Police. “He was still in the army. He came looking for me at the city abattoir to kill me because I had refused to give him a plot to build a house. He fired four bullets, but I was not injured,” he said.
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