Parliament condemns mob attack on Rugby Cranes star Gongodyo

KAMPALA - Parliament has condemned “in the strongest terms” the recent brutal mob attack on Uganda Rugby Cranes star Sydney Gongodyo.

Gongodyo, 27, was killed on June 5 by a mob in Ntinda, Kampala, and buried four days later in Buweri town council, Sironko district.

While presiding over Parliament's plenary session on Wednesday (June 10), Speaker Jacob Marksons Oboth described the brutal attack as “very painful”.

Oboth noted that the Black Pirates rugby star was a young man, very promising, and that he did not know anything about theft.

“It is very tragic to lose a life in such circumstances. How do you take the law into your hands? And these days, it is just enough to say, ‘Wuuyo, wuuyo, wuuyo (there he is)’ and they will pounce on you,” Oboth told the House while responding to Omoro County MP Andrew Ojok’s statement on Gongodyo’s death.  

The Speaker then asked Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja to reassure the country that the Government would stop mob justice in Uganda.

Nabbanja started off by thanking Ojok for bringing the mob justice matter to the floor of Parliament.

“But Honourable Speaker, it is painful that we have lost such a young man at such a tender age, just like that. I want to use this microphone on behalf of the Government to condemn the act of mob justice in the strongest terms possible,” she said.

She recalled that at one time, while travelling from her district of Kakumiro to that of Mubende, she witnessed a young man who had been killed by a mob.

Nabbanja told the House that the young man killed was a coffee middleman. “He had his weighing scale in a Kavera (polythene bag), and then they said that he was a thief because thieves had stolen in that area a day before. Just like that, we lost a young man.”

She then directed the minister of internal affairs to come up with a report that would enable the House to debate the matter of mob justice at length, saying it is big.

“All of us are not safe. Our relatives, voters, are not safe. On behalf of the Government, I want to commit that we shall try to make sure that we stamp out this act of mob justice using police and all security agencies, and the culprits should be brought to book. This must stop,” the premier said.

Earlier, Ojok  told the House that this was not an isolated incident. “He (Gongodyo) was killed on Friday on some suspicion which was not proved. He was beaten and killed by the people that he plays to represent out of this country. On average, we lose 1,000 people to mob justice, according to the Police annual crime report,” he said.

According to Ojok, what happened to Gongodyo could happen to any of the MPs while they walk on the streets.

“Anyone shouting ‘thief’, without any proof, you are lynched by those we represent here. We condemn mob justice in very strong terms,” he said, before asking the internal affairs ministry to give Parliament a report about Gongodyo’s death within seven days.

Ojok added, “The challenge usually is the response time. Can we have a strategy from the Government on response time? The Police are called, and they come three or four hours later [after the incident has happened]. If you look at the videos, Sydney was bundled like a thief onto a police wagon. What is the Government going to do about future incidents? Sydney should mark the end of mob justice."

This comes as the Police are actively investigating Gongodyo’s death, with at least 10 suspects already arrested in connection with the attack.