Police recover rusty gun, ammunition in Jinja cassava garden

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Police in the Kiira region have recovered a seemingly abandoned rusty gun with 15 rounds of live ammunition.

According to regional police spokesperson James Mubi, the firearm was discovered by a woman who had gone for her routine gardening at Busowoko Central village, Nawampanda parish, Butagaya subcounty in Jinja district on September 20, 2025.

He said the woman, Monica Namugaya, was harvesting cassava when she uprooted one of the long tubers and spotted a plastic sack.

The curious Namugaya dug deeper to establish what had been buried in her garden, only to find a rusty gun, sending her into shock.

She rushed to the Nawampanda parish chairperson for veterans, Shaban Mazereba, who, in turn, informed the area gombolola internal security officer (GISO) and the police.

Mubi said a joint security team led by Maj. Ishaka, the commanding officer of the 129 Battalion, responded to the scene and retrieved the firearm.

According to Kiira region police commander Charles Nsaba, the recovered gun was purportedly used in terrorising the Busoga sub-region as well as other parts of the country before it was abandoned.

Meanwhile, Jinja district LC5 chairperson Moses Batwala, who also visited the scene, concurred with Nsaba, saying this could be the gun behind recent murders in the area.

Batwala cited the gruesome 7:30 am murder of Peter Musiira, who was shot dead on March 13, 2025, at Busiiya swamp located in Busiiya LC1 village, Kalamooya parish, Buwenge town council in Jinja district while heading for shopping.

The 34-year-old businessman, who owned a wholesale shop in Luzinga trading centre, Wankoole subcounty, Buzaya county in Kamuli district, was killed on his way to Buwenge before boarding a taxi to Jinja city for shopping.

The deceased was trailed by armed thugs in a black saloon car whose registration number was not established. They blocked the boda boda motorcycle, registration number UFH 782N, on which he was being ridden.

The three armed thugs emerged from the vehicle and attempted to force Musiira inside, while their accomplice remained at the wheel.

Even after being shot in the legs, Musiira resisted getting into the car until he was shot in the chest, killing him instantly.

The thugs undressed him, leaving him in his underwear, and fled with his clothes and a jacket said to have contained money for shopping.

Until now, Batwala said, the thugs remain at large.

He also mentioned the April 5, 2025, 8:00 pm raid on a hardware shop in Buwenge town, where robbers killed Bumali Mbadi and injured Eric Matege.

Both were clients at Praise God General Hardware shop, where the thugs made off with an unspecified amount of cash after the shooting.

Like Batwala, Nsaba praised Namugaya and area residents for being security alert and for the goodwill they exhibited during the recovery of the gun.

He said the firearm would be subjected to examination to establish its origins and guide investigations.