Hundreds of residents accused of encroaching on government land near Mandela National Stadium in Namboole were forcibly evicted yesterday amid heavy gunfire from Uganda Peoples Defence Forces soldiers.
Both boda boda riders, Mr Moses Wambi, 20, and Mr Warren Nuwamanya, 43, were shot and sustained bullet wounds.
Mr Wambi stated that he was riding past the deployed security team when his arm became paralysed.
“I then noticed blood oozing from my body.” I then realised I’d been shot. “I was taken to the health centre for treatment by well-wishers,” Mr Wambi said at the Gwatiro health facility where he was admitted.
According to Patrick Onyango, a spokesman for the Kampala Metropolitan Police, the civilians were injured by stray bullets.
“Wambi was taken to Gwatiro Health Centre for treatment, while Nuwamanya was taken to a Kireka clinic.” “The encroachers were successfully evicted,” Mr Onyango announced yesterday.
In the early 1990s, the government purchased land in Namboole and built a stadium. People began encroaching on the land’s periphery plots in the early 2000s.
The government recently hired the UPDF construction brigade to renovate and construct a fence around the stadium. The UPDF engineers fenced off several encroachers’ homes on government land.
Residents have been using a ditch to enter and exit the fenced land.
The stadium administration has given the residents until February 15, 2023, to vacate the property.
Mr Onyango stated that some of the encroachers left the land while others refused to leave. Residents who were defiant demanded compensation.
“Today’s (Thursday) eviction was successful, but during the exercise, a few people attempted to resist, forcing UPDF soldiers to fire in the air. A stray bullet injured one Wambi,” he said.
Army perspective
Col Deo Akiiki, the UPDF’s Deputy Spokesperson, accused the affected residents, led by the area vice chairman, Mr Godfrey Kawooya, of attacking their engineers, prompting the shooting.
“The security detail protecting the site and workers fired three warning shots in vain to disperse Mr Kawooya’s gang.” Three of our soldiers were injured, including Pte Maseruka Jackson, whose fingers were severed by pang-welding gangs,” Col Akiiki said yesterday.
No one was arrested as a result of the alleged chaos.
