US asked to expeditiously probe Olango's death

Uganda's envoy to the US, Oliver Wonekha, has asked the American government to expeditiously investigate the death of a Uganda national, Alfred Olango, who was shot dead by a policeman in San Diego.

The 30-year-old Olango was on September 27^th shot and killed by a policeman attached to El Cajon Police Department in San Diego.

Media reports said before a policeman shot and killed Olango, he pulled an object that looked like a gun from his pocket and pointed it at officers in a ‘shooting stance'. It later emerged that Olango, who was shot five times, was not carrying any gun.

In a statement detailing action taken by Uganda's Embassy in the US addressed to the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ambassador Wonekha requested that the outcome of the probe be communicated to the Ugandan government and the deceased's family.

"The early release of the outcome of investigations by the US authorities will help address unanswered questions from the Government and the people of Uganda, especially the family of the deceased," the statement signed by Alfred Nnam on behalf of Wonekha said.

The Ambassador reportedly also handed over to the US a Diplomatic Note formally communicating the Uganda Government's deep concern over the matter, and demanding a formal explanation.

This was in a meeting that Wonekha held on September 29 with the acting US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Bruce Wharton, who represented Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield who is currently abroad.

The meeting followed a Uganda government directive to Wonekha to establish the status of Olango at the time he was shot dead by US police to establish facts.

Reports indicate that Olango was mentally ill and that his sister had called Police for assistance after he started acting strangely. Olango who hails from Gulu district in northern Uganda, was reportedly wandering in traffic by the time Police arrived.

In video footage that has gone viral on social media, the wailing lady is seen pacing up and down at the scene of crime and at some point she is heard saying, "I called for help, I didn't call you guys to kill him. I told you he is sick and needs help. Why couldn't you guys tase him? You killed my brother. I should have called Crisis Communications team."

The shooting outside the Broadway Village Shopping Centre attracted protests at the scene for several hours, alleging Police racism. Amid chants of, "black lives matter" and hurling insults at the Police, the protesters also held demonstrations outside the El Cajon Police Department in California.

On his part, Wharton expressed the US government's profound sadness regarding the shooting of Olango, and he reportedly admitted that there was a problem which the government was addressing.

Wharton told Wonekha that he did not have facts of the case, but promised to inform Uganda's Embassy in the US when their police department in San Diego releases reports of their ongoing internal investigations. He expressed satisfaction that the Ugandan Embassy had handled the matter through official channels.

Wharton expressed his government's concern about posts on social media threatening the US Embassy, its staff and US citizens in Uganda, but noted with satisfaction the steps taken by the Ugandan government to address the threats.

Wonekha assured Wharton of the Ugandan government's readiness to provide adequate protection to the US Embassy, its staff and American citizens in Uganda.

She however, asked the US Government to issue a press statement on the unfortunate incident which may help in calming down anger and frustrations of Ugandans.

Wonekha thanked Wharton for granting the embassy audience at short notice, but expressed deep concern at the unfortunate incident in El Cajon, San Diego, that resulted into the death of Olango.

According to statistics from the website of ‘Mapping Police Violence', an American organisation, Olango became the 217^th black American to be killed by Police so far this year.