By Simon Masaba and Frank Isabirye

THE Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) director for planning, George Agaba is facing murder charges after his bodyguard shot and killed two people during a demolition exercise in Luzira on Sunday.

Agaba and his bodyguard, Santos Komakech, are in custody at Jinja Road Police Station over the incident.

Two men were killed and a woman sustained injuries in the chaos that ensued when the evictees turned against the KCCA officials in protest. Komakech was seen shooting live bullets in the direction of the locals.

Agaba was expected to appear before court on Monday, but he was not produced. Some residents accused Agaba of having a personal interest in the land they were being evicted from.

Police boss Gen. Kale Kayihura condemned the violence and met with the residents who were affected during the eviction fracas in which two men – one identified as John Onyango – were shot dead.

He clarified that Komakech was not a police officer and that his action should not be blamed on the police.

Kayihura described Komakech as Agaba’s “personal bodyguard” whose actions could not be blamed on his forces [police].

“I have come here to establish the facts and express my sincere condolences to the injured and those who lost their loved ones. I also want to confirm to you that the suspects are in custody and will appear in court soon,” he said.

Desperate and homeless

The suspects, Kayihura explained, would be charged with murder and malicious damage to property.

In Uganda and several parts of the world, the maximum sentence for murder is death.

The residents, whose makeshift structures were razed in the botched exercise, expressed their grievances over the manner in which they were ‘thrown out’. But KCCA officials deployed at Port Bell, Luzira on Sunday claimed that the authority had given the residents eviction notices beforehand.

Erina Asiimwe, a mother of four, lamented that she has nowhere to go and that a “Good Samaritan” who offered to take her in temporarily because she has children can only accommodate her for three more nights.

“My husband is in Singo barracks training with the army. I cannot reach him because his cellphones are off,” she sounded clearly desperate.

And it is not any better for Verandah Twesigomwe, who seems to have what she calls “troubles” trailing close behind her.

After being thrown out of the Naguru Housing Estate recently, she sought refuge in Luzira. But her stay there ended on Sunday.

Nakawa division mayor Ben Kalumba disclosed that Onyango’s [one of the deceased] family received sh3m for burial arrangements, while the injured got sh500,000 each. Onyango is to be buried in Bugiri today [Tuesday].