Ex-mayor, engineer in trouble over toddler death

An ex-mayor of Mitooma town council and a bar proprietor are in trouble over the death of a toddler in Mitooma district.

The woes of the duo started after the discovery of the body of a one-year-old child in the compound of a bar and lodge.

Following the discovery, former mayor Mugarura Alfred, who is also the owner of Moonlight Bar and Lodge and Tito Tumwine an engineer in Mitooma district were on Wednesday, August 7, 2024, arrested.

The murder victim, Jessen Antwine reportedly disappeared on Sunday, August 6, 2024, in one of the rooms at Moonlight Bar only for its lifeless body to be discovered in the compound at the bar. 

Mitooma Resident District Commissioner Kibuuka Amooti said the bar owner, all his workers at the bar and the engineer who has been working at the construction site at the bar have been arrested to help the Police with investigations into the suspected ritual murder. 

"The victim was hit on the head with a sharp object, blood collected and there after the body was dumped in the compound of the bar," Kibuuka said. 

The postmortem report done at Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital shows that the victim was hit on the head and bled to death. 

David Nyambwoha, the Ward IV chairperson in Mitooma town, asked parents and guardians to always be alert while with their children. 

"The victim disappeared from his father's home without the knowledge of anyone and yet such threats against children are on the rise," he said.

Albert Kakwenzire, the LC3 chairperson Mitooma Town Council, cautioned residents against politicising the arrest of the suspects.