Auditor held over shooting candidate
13th December 2010
AN auditor with Masaka municipal council has been arrested over shooting a parliamentary candidate for Masaka municipality.
By Dismus Buregyeya
and Joyce Namutebi
AN auditor with Masaka municipal council has been arrested over shooting a parliamentary candidate for Masaka municipality.
John Sempiira is said to have shot Mathias Mpuuga, a former Mengo minister for youth and employment, on Saturday at midnight at Hotel La Nova, where he had booked a room for the night.
Mpuuga, who was shot in the right thigh, was rushed to Masaka Hospital and later moved to Rubaga Hospital in Kampala, where he is admitted.
Rubaga Hospital acting medical director, Dr. John Bosco Mutakirwa said yesterday that Mpuuga was operated on and was in stable condition.
“His condition is not worrying.â€
The southern regional OC/CID, Christopher Rugumayo, said Sempiira was arrested by the Police Rapid Response Unit (RRU) following a verbal confession that he shot Mpuuga.
Sempiira is being held at the Central Police Station, Masaka.
By press time, waitresses at the hotel were expected at the Police station, where Sempiira was supposed to be paraded for identification, according to a security officer who did not wish to be named.
“The girls are expected to identify Sempiira and say whether he is the man who went to the hotel on Saturday night asking to meet Mpuuga before the shooting,†said the officer.
The officer said the pistol he allegedly used had been recovered and would be taken for examination.
Sources said Sempiira made a verbal statement at RRU after his arrest that he shot at Mpuuga in anger after finding him at the hotel with his girlfriend.
The hotel is owned by former Buganda Kingdom premier Joseph Mulwanyamuli Ssemwogerere.
Relatives and friends flocked to Rubaga Hospital to visit Mpuuga in the surgical ward, where he is being attended to by his wife, Maria.
Among them were Ssemwogerere — who is also the patron of Ssuubi, a political pressure group — Sseggona, Kampala mayoral candidate Erias Lukwago and Inter-Party Cooperation spokesperson Ibrahim Semujju Nganda
Mpuuga said he was taking a shower when he heard someone knocking on the door of his room. He said he saw a stranger after opening the door half-way.
“The assailant tried to force himself into the room, but I resisted. In the process, I was shot in the leg,†Mpuuga said. He said the man fled after shooting him.
In Kampala, Sseggona and Ssemwogerere addressed a press conference at Pope Paul Memorial Centre yesterday.
Ssemwogerere said: “It is surprising that the Government, which introduced multipartyism, does not give a friendly atmosphere to participants in elections to be properly protected.â€
Sseggona said Mpuuga had moved away from his home in Kirumba, Masaka to La Nova for fear of being killed.
and Joyce Namutebi
AN auditor with Masaka municipal council has been arrested over shooting a parliamentary candidate for Masaka municipality.
John Sempiira is said to have shot Mathias Mpuuga, a former Mengo minister for youth and employment, on Saturday at midnight at Hotel La Nova, where he had booked a room for the night.
Mpuuga, who was shot in the right thigh, was rushed to Masaka Hospital and later moved to Rubaga Hospital in Kampala, where he is admitted.
Rubaga Hospital acting medical director, Dr. John Bosco Mutakirwa said yesterday that Mpuuga was operated on and was in stable condition.
“His condition is not worrying.â€
The southern regional OC/CID, Christopher Rugumayo, said Sempiira was arrested by the Police Rapid Response Unit (RRU) following a verbal confession that he shot Mpuuga.
Sempiira is being held at the Central Police Station, Masaka.
By press time, waitresses at the hotel were expected at the Police station, where Sempiira was supposed to be paraded for identification, according to a security officer who did not wish to be named.
“The girls are expected to identify Sempiira and say whether he is the man who went to the hotel on Saturday night asking to meet Mpuuga before the shooting,†said the officer.
The officer said the pistol he allegedly used had been recovered and would be taken for examination.
Sources said Sempiira made a verbal statement at RRU after his arrest that he shot at Mpuuga in anger after finding him at the hotel with his girlfriend.
The hotel is owned by former Buganda Kingdom premier Joseph Mulwanyamuli Ssemwogerere.
Relatives and friends flocked to Rubaga Hospital to visit Mpuuga in the surgical ward, where he is being attended to by his wife, Maria.
Among them were Ssemwogerere — who is also the patron of Ssuubi, a political pressure group — Sseggona, Kampala mayoral candidate Erias Lukwago and Inter-Party Cooperation spokesperson Ibrahim Semujju Nganda
Mpuuga said he was taking a shower when he heard someone knocking on the door of his room. He said he saw a stranger after opening the door half-way.
“The assailant tried to force himself into the room, but I resisted. In the process, I was shot in the leg,†Mpuuga said. He said the man fled after shooting him.
In Kampala, Sseggona and Ssemwogerere addressed a press conference at Pope Paul Memorial Centre yesterday.
Ssemwogerere said: “It is surprising that the Government, which introduced multipartyism, does not give a friendly atmosphere to participants in elections to be properly protected.â€
Sseggona said Mpuuga had moved away from his home in Kirumba, Masaka to La Nova for fear of being killed.