Master Blaster buried on torchlight

After hours of fracas with Police, musician Cornelius Oloya popularly known as Master Blaster was finally laid to rest at his ancestral home in Kitgum with the aid of torchlight.

The burial of the musician was delayed after the Police and the relatives got embroiled in a fracas about who should take responsibility for his death.

The francas started on Friday when the Oloya's body arrived at his home in Kitgum.  Relatives immediately demanded for a meeting with the Police whom they accused of killing the musician.

The matter was fueled further by rumours that the musician was shot after he tried to fight a police officer.

Master Blaster was shot dead on Tuesday last week at Eden Service Park, a pub in Bwaise along Nabweru Road in Kampala.

He was shot twice in the stomach during a scuffle between a group of Ugandan youth and South Sudanese nationals.

The deceased died shortly on arrival at Mulago referral Hospital where he had been rushed.

63 people including a Police officer attached to Kawempe Police Station Corporal Gonzaga Wagaba were arrested in connection with the death.

Police spokesperson Fred Enanga said preliminary investigations indicated that on the fateful day, Wagaba and six other policemen on patrol rushed to Eden Service Park following a reported brawl between South Sudanese nationals and Ugandans.

He said they found drunk revelers shouting but not fighting as it had been reported.

Enanga said Wagaba allegedly shot the deceased in the stomach while trying to quell the chaos thus leading to his death.

Stormy meeting

At the burial, the Master Blaster' relatives reportedly insisted that Police takes responsibility before the body is buried.

They threatened to return the remains to Kampala if they were not compensated by Police for the loss. They also tasked the Police to take responsibility in writing.

"We met the Police up to late in the night and they promised to comeback early on Saturday morning. At 11am on Saturday, we decided to carry the body to Palabek police; unfortunately, the officers were tough and refused to listen to us. We demanded that we talk to the regional police commander who also came in late," Stephen Oloya, Master Blaster‘s brother told New Vision.

"When the RPC arrived, the meeting went on up to around 7:30pm. We could not postpone the burial because in Acholi, anybody who dies in such circumstances is not allowed even to stay for a single day. The drug used to treat him was also wearing off," he said.

The RPC Willison Kwanya advised the relatives to appoint an individual and a lawyer to work with police and the administrator general on the case.