Nankabirwa Grilled Over Kiboga Deaths

By Felix Osike and Grace MatsikoSTATE Minister for Defence Ruth Nankabirwa was yesterday quizzed for one and a half hours by CID officials over the alleged shooting of civilians in Kiboga district by her bodyguards.Swaibu Malinga, an LC2 chairman for Ntunda, Nsambya sub-county, was shot and killed by an unidentified gunman during a scuffle between jubilant supporters of Siraje Kizito Nkugwa, the winner of Thursday’s LC5 elections, and security personnel. Five other civilians were seriously injured.The Deputy Director of CID, Okoth Ochola said, “We interrogated her. We wanted a clarification on whether she or her escorts played any role in the shooting.”He said Police had requested for the guns of the guards who were present at the time of the shooting for a “scientific ballistic analysis.” He said Police recovered the cartridges for scrutiny “I had to give them my statement. It is a serious issue that is tarnishing my image,” Nankabirwa said after recording her statement at the CID headquarters, Kampala.The Kiboga District Police Commander, SSP Okot, said Malinga who died in Kiboga hospital, was shot in the stomach when guards fired to disperse the rioters.He said the guards included special Police constables, Administration Police and body guards of Nankabirwa and Electoral Commissioner Nassanga Miiro.Sources said Nankabirwa instructed her guards to go and rescue the people.Nankabirwa, the area woman MP, was reportedly supporting Edward Katumba Byaruhanga, second time loser for the Kiboga seat.In a statement she personally delivered to the New Vision yesterday, Nankabirwa denied having instructed her bodyguards to shoot at the civilians.“It cannot be true that it’s my escorts who shot the deceased on my orders, because I never gave those orders and I was full time with them,” the minister said. She said, “I would like to inform the nation that these allegations are false, malicious and merely intended to tarnish my image.” She threatened to sue “the people involved in propagating those false and malicious accusation against me.”Central Regional Police Commander Chris Bakesiima said police detectives were sent to Kiboga at the weekend to establish the facts. “That time, Kizito was leading Katumba with over 1,000 votes and they began celebrating. It is alleged that the minister ordered her bodyguards to disperse the crowd, then her bodyguards in the process shot the man,” Bakesiima said.Nankabirwa said she and her escorts were not near the crowd. “By the time, my escorts and I arrived at the scene, the person who had been injured in the shooting was being carried to the vehicle,” she added.Ends