KAMPALA – The Minister of State for Housing, Dr Chris Baryomunsi, has come under fire from Kanungu District leaders, including the Resident District Commissioner (RDC), after his military escorts reportedly shot and seriously injured an agent of an Independent candidate in the Kanungu LC5 elections last week.
Andrew Musinguzi, who is an agent of Mr Sam Kajojo, an independent candidate, said while travelling on a boda boda on the eve of last Wednesday’ election, he was waylaid by a vehicle with government official number plates before military escorts of Dr Baryomunsi, who is also the Kinkiizi East MP, emerged and shot him in the hip.
Musinguzi said the incident occurred near Kanungu Police Station at around 8pm on 19th January.
According to him, the vehicle, a Toyota Prado, was carrying Dr Baryomunsi’s worker called Kafanta Mugisha and his chief agent Rogers Niwagaba for Rutenga Sub-county.
“Mugisha told the security guards in the Prado; ‘These are the boys.’ The man (in the vehicle) wearing an army jacket pulled a pistol and shot me twice in the lower abdomen as we tried to turn back on the motorcycle. I fell in the drainage channel and rolled downhill. The attackers drove away. The boda boda man, who was carrying me, ran for his life,” Musinguzi told journalists on Saturday.
He added that for sometime, he remained in the trench unconscious only to come to his senses after nearly an hour.Musinguzi added that he called a friend who took him to Kanungu Health Centre IV.
He added that he reported the matter at Kanungu Police Station but that nothing has been done yet.
Musinguzi said the NRM party flag bearer for the Kanungu LC5 seat, Mr Zepher Mugisha, was being supported by top NRM party officials in the district, including Dr Baryomunsi.
Mr Kajojo eventually won the Kanungu District chairperson seat in last week’s local government elections.
However, Dr Baryomunsi denied any role in the incident, saying he was not a candidate in the local council elections.
However, the RDC, Hajj Shafique Ssekandi, vowed to investigate the matter to its logical conclusion.
“The accused persons had no authority to monitor the electoral process. I wonder why his security people accumulated all that anger to start shooting at people in an election that was not for their boss,” he said.
