The sacks of coffee outside Kashaija’s house where he was murdered with his family

By Chris Ahimbisibwe

SHOCK and grief gripped residents of Nyamiko village, Kihunda parish in Bushenyi district on Friday, when they woke up to find a family of five murdered and burnt.

The Police named the dead as, Yoram Kashaija, 42, his pregnant wife, Loid Natukunda, 40, and their three children Morisa Musimenta, 8, Promise, 5 and one-year-old Duncan Mugarura.

The Police said they were hacked, before the assailants piled the bodies in a heap and set them ablaze.

“We saw smoke coming from the house. When we rushed there and extinguished the fire, we discovered bodies piled in the middle of a room,” said a neighbour.

The residents separated the charred bodies from the burning mud and wattle house before the Police arrived. Neighbours said Kashaija was a prominent coffee farmer, who had been in the trade for more than 20 years. The compound was littered with coffee beans.

The district Police commander, Peter Onyura, his criminal investigations counterpart, Stanley Owor, the western regional Police commander, Faluku Muyirima and regional criminal investigations officer Twiine Rubanza, visited the scene.

Onyura said: “This heinous crime beats our understanding. We do not know what is happening in Kihunda.”

He explained that this was the second time such crime had been committed in the area.

Earlier, a man and his two daughters were hacked in their sleep.

Onyura said Kashaija had on Wednesday and Thursday sold five tonnes of coffee.

“We have not yet established whether Kashaija had been paid for his coffee. It is difficult for us to prove because the assailant destroyed all evidence.”

He asked the residents to report disputes to the Police.

“If you continue keeping quiet and yet some of you know the origin of such cases, then the situation is likely to continue.”