Teen boy killed in Buikwe protests

By Donald Kiirya

BUIKWE, eastern Uganda – One person was killed when the police clashed with protesting drivers in Naminya village, Buikwe district on Wednesday.

The angry drivers blocked the Jinja-Kayunga highway with barricades which were later removed by police.

Motorists were restrained from using the highway by the blockages – mostly logs and huge pieces of rock.

New Vision learnt that the drivers were demonstrating peacefully until the moment the police intervened.

An eight-man team led by Salini police post officer-in-charge (OC), only identified as Odur, swung into action when they had learnt of the activity.

It is understood they started firing bullets in the air to disperse the protestors.

But the fate of 15-year-old Shakur Kalinaki was surrounded by conflicting reports. One witness said the teen was working in a garage where a fatal bullet caught him.

Another account indicated that OC Odur fired directly at the boy’s head as he pursued him from behind during the mayhem.

Kalinaki then fell in a maize garden, 200 meters from the highway where a woman found him lying in a pool of blood and alerted residents, New Vision learnt.

When police heard of the fatal outcome, they withdrew and returned to the police post, it is understood.

The deceased was a resident of Naminya village in Wakisi sub-county in the same district.

The protestors turned more rowdy after the shooting of the teenage boy, piling the highway with more logs, bricks and garbage. Motorists remained stranded for some time.

A badly hit Kalinaki was rushed to Jinja main hospital but he had long died on the way to the health facility.

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Chris Kayumba Kiggundu, the DPC Njeru division addressed the residents shortly afterwards, calling for calm.

He told them he disarmed Odur after confirming reports that it was him [Odur] who shot Kalinaki dead.

“They tried to tell me that it was a stray bullet that hit Kalinaki but according to how I have seen the wound, it was direct firing,” he proclaimed.

“But I assure you that Odur is already in Police Cells at Njeru division Police Station and since I am one-day-old in this division as Police Commander, I request that you stop the rioting and we work together as we find solutions to your problems.”

The commander regretted the incident, and assured that “Odur will be taken to court to face the law”.

Earlier this week (on Monday), a strike by taxi operators paralyzed transport in Jinja and surrounding areas in the region.

The drivers were unhappy with the hike in penalties brought about by the revised Express Penalty Scheme (EPS).

The demonstration had come on the back of threats by the drivers to lay down their tools until their grievances were met by the concerned authorities.

At that time, they parked their vehicles and blocked the Jinja-Iganga-Bugiri road at Bugembe Township, in an attempt to stop other motorists from ferrying passengers.

They placed huge stones and heaps of garbage in the middle of the road, and also burned tyres there.

Police intervened, fired bullets and teargas to disperse the drivers who had grouped in Wanyama, Bugembe and Wanyange trading centres.

Similar protests were reported in Iganga, Bugiri, Mafubira, Buwenge, Kaliro and Mayuge districts. There were also others reported along the Jinja-Kampala highway at Mbikko, Nakibizi and Kitigoma.