{"id":23848,"date":"2016-03-12T00:48:37","date_gmt":"2016-03-12T00:48:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/uganda-fresh-ethnic-clashes-erupt-in-kasese\/"},"modified":"2016-03-12T00:48:25","modified_gmt":"2016-03-12T00:48:25","slug":"uganda-fresh-ethnic-clashes-erupt-in-kasese","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/uganda-fresh-ethnic-clashes-erupt-in-kasese\/","title":{"rendered":"Uganda:Fresh ethnic clashes erupt in Kasese"},"content":{"rendered":"

{Two people have been shot dead and four soldiers critically injured in an attack in Hima town council in fresh ethnic violence in Kasese district.}<\/p>\n

The attacks are believed to have been triggered by ethnic conflicts stemming from the sub-county elections in the district this week in which the opposition again swept most of the seats. It is alleged that a group of more than 60 people armed with guns, spears and machetes on Thursday at around 10pm, attacked and speared three UPDF soldiers who were on night foot patrol at Kikonzo village, Kendahi Ward in Hima town council before the soldiers killed two in alleged self-defence.<\/p>\n

The Regional Police Commander for Rwenzori East, Mr Bob Kagarura, confirmed the attack on Thursday night.
\n\u201cWe have been attacked by people from the mountains. As I speak, two people have already died and three of our soldiers are critically injured,\u201d said Kagarura.<\/p>\n

He said the attackers were holding deadly weapons such as guns, spears and pangas (machetes). Among the dead were commanders of the group that attacked the soldiers.
\n\u201cAs soldiers were on night patrol, a group of over 60 people singing Mai Mai and dressed in navy blue trousers and black new boots attacked them, started stabbing them on arms, backs and foreheads before soldiers defended themselves by killing two on the spot\u201d said Mr Kagarura.<\/p>\n

He identified the injured as Cpl Moses Ssentongo, Cpl Rwot Owengyo, Cpl James Otodde and Lance Cpl Matiya Senyonga all attached to Hima-Kaveera army barracks in Kasese. They were admitted to Kilembe Hospital. He said those who had guns among the attackers quickly disappeared while the rest vainly tried to grab guns from the soldiers.
\nThe bodies of the attackers who are yet to be identified, were taken to Kilembe hospital. Other attackers reportedly vanished into the bushes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have arrested four people in a cordon-and-search operation at night while others had been arrested earlier during the post-election demonstration that happened during the day,\u201d Kagarura said.
\nHe said earlier, security had sensed danger when many people started descending down to attack police posts, including Kithoma in Buhuhira sub-county.
\nEarlier on Thursday, police fired tear gas in Hima town as they tried to disperse crowds that had started burning houses in protests.<\/p>\n

How it started
\nThe attacks came in a day after an independent candidate, Mr Tom Wabukombi, lost to the incumbent Mr Musana Katura (NRM) by 200 votes in the Hima Local Council chairperson elections.
\nPrior to the attack, a house of one of the supporters of Wabukombi was set ablaze after he was suspected to have caused the defeat of their candidate by allegedly having undercover dealings with their opponent.<\/p>\n

The 305 Brigade army spokesperson, Lt Amos Nsamba, said security agencies had combed the whole village in a hunt for the attackers. He said there is need to encourage leaders to avoid misleading their followers in a manner that will not develop Uganda.
\nThe attack in Kasese comes on the day after Presidenti Museveni had just warned against tribal chauvinism in Kasese district. In a March 10 press statement, the president said: \u201cThere can never be a Yiira Republic.\u201d<\/p>\n

President Museveni was meeting a delegation of the minority tribes in Kasese who were complaining about marginalisation in Kasese district. Some of the minority tribes were also talking of a scheme to create a Yiira Republic involving the Bakonjo of Congo and the Bakonjo of Uganda. <\/p>\n

The minority groups represented were the Basongora, the Banyabindi, the Bagabo and the Bakyingwe [Banyabutumbi] as well as some other immigrant tribes [Bafurukyi].
\nThe President assured the delegation that if a Yiira Republic was ever to be created, it would never ever involve a single inch of Ugandan territory.<\/p>\n

Previously
\nSimilar incidents happened in the neighbouring Bundibugyo district last month after the incumbent district chairman, Mr Jolly Tibemanya (Independent) lost to Mr Ronald Mutegeki (NRM) in a hotly contested race. The attacks left over 10 people dead in Kirumya Bughendera County.<\/p>\n

\"President<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

{Two people have been shot dead and four soldiers critically injured in an attack in Hima town council in fresh ethnic violence in Kasese district.} The attacks are believed to have been triggered by ethnic conflicts stemming from the sub-county elections in the district this week in which the opposition again swept most of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[99],"byline":[2481],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-23848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-greatlakesnews","byline-daily-monitor"],"bylines":[{"id":2481,"name":"DAILY MONITOR","slug":"daily-monitor","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":null}],"contributors":[{"id":2481,"name":"DAILY MONITOR","slug":"daily-monitor","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":null}],"featured_image":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23848"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23848\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23848"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=23848"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=23848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}