Entebbe.
The army is probing circumstances under which a
presidential guard on Saturday night grabbed a gun from a fellow soldier
and shot him several times in the dead hours of the night within State
House. Other soldiers on guard, responding to the bang of gunshots,
opened fire on the attacker killing him instantly.
The soldiers were members of the elite Special
Forces Group (SFG) that is especially deployed to guard the President.
SFG spokesman Maj Chris Magezi said yesterday that an inquiry was
instituted to come up with measures to avert recurrence of such
incidents and disciplinary action for such soldiers that flout standard
operating procedures.
“This soldier who was suspected to be drunk or
under influence of drugs came in at either 4am or 5am which is not the
usual time soldiers come in. The forces at the quarter guard being on a
high terror alert tried to stop him and arrest him but he resisted and
he instead grabbed a gun and shot one of the guards. The other guards
had no option than to neutralise him,” Maj Magezi explained.
Maj Magezi who first described the act as “an
indiscipline case” declined to reveal the identities of dead soldiers
until their relatives are informed. He said the bodies are still under
|SFG custody as burial arrangements are made.
Contradictions
However, soldiers in State House, who refused to be named because they are not authorised to speak to the press, had a different version of the story.
The soldiers said that their colleague identified as Private Ondoga was guarding the armoury when other soldiers had returned to deposit their rifles at around 8pm. “He got out of his senses and ordered everybody near the armoury to leave including senior army officers. Because he possessed a gun, we all left the armoury and organised to disarm him. We successfully did, thinking he had acted under the influence of drugs and arrested him,” a soldier narrated.
However, soldiers in State House, who refused to be named because they are not authorised to speak to the press, had a different version of the story.
The soldiers said that their colleague identified as Private Ondoga was guarding the armoury when other soldiers had returned to deposit their rifles at around 8pm. “He got out of his senses and ordered everybody near the armoury to leave including senior army officers. Because he possessed a gun, we all left the armoury and organised to disarm him. We successfully did, thinking he had acted under the influence of drugs and arrested him,” a soldier narrated.
Mr Ondoga was then bundled onto a double cabin
pick-up to be driven to the cells. He however reportedly jumped off and
hid within the large expanse of State House environs. He defied orders
not to run even when he could not escape through the tightly guarded
gates of State House.
“He surfaced later at 5am and found Private Peter
Makanga a.ka. Mukwasi entering his home and wrestled him down, grabbed
his gun and shot him, emptying the whole magazine into his lifeless
body. Makanga was among the people who had disarmed him at first,” the
soldier narrated
Mr Ondoga loaded another magazine, apparently in preparation for more mischief, but the bullet shots had woken up other soldiers who managed to put him out of action (kill him). A vigil was held at Makanga’s home awaiting to take his body for burial in Mbale while Ondoga will be buried in Soroti.
Mr Ondoga loaded another magazine, apparently in preparation for more mischief, but the bullet shots had woken up other soldiers who managed to put him out of action (kill him). A vigil was held at Makanga’s home awaiting to take his body for burial in Mbale while Ondoga will be buried in Soroti.
Recent events
SFG. Special Forces Group are the forces responsible for providing security to the President of Uganda and to Uganda’s constitutional monarchs. The Special Forces Group is also responsible for providing security at Uganda’s major installations.
SFG. Special Forces Group are the forces responsible for providing security to the President of Uganda and to Uganda’s constitutional monarchs. The Special Forces Group is also responsible for providing security at Uganda’s major installations.
Recently. Recently, a Special Forces Group officer
shot himself after testing HIV positive, an action that left many of
his colleagues in astonishment.
Private Ernest Kintu who was guarding a home of a Russian army expert who trains Airforce soldiers was recently found dead near the gate of the home he was guarding at Oring Crescent road in Kiwafu Division B in Entebbe.
Private Ernest Kintu who was guarding a home of a Russian army expert who trains Airforce soldiers was recently found dead near the gate of the home he was guarding at Oring Crescent road in Kiwafu Division B in Entebbe.
credit, daily monitor
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