A police car goes up in flames following a cash between police officers and drug users in Kampala on Tuesday
Three police officers die in drug raid
By Andrew Bagala,Citizen Correspondent,Kampala
Three people including two police constables were yesterday shot dead as the police stormed Kalerwe, a city suburb in Kawempe Division to arrest drug abusers.
In the botched operation, police constables ended up turning their guns on each other and creating a bloody scene that lasted about two hours.
Among the dead was a 10 year-old-boy identified as Willy Byamukama, killed by a police constable’s bullet.
The constable then shot and killed two colleagues who had tried to apprehend him for killing the child – leaving some of the suspects they had come to arrest looking on in shock.
According to an eyewitness, the gruesome incidents started at 3:30pm after the police raided the area to arrest an unidentified marijuana dealer. Kalerwe, like many other slums in Kampala is known for harbouring hardcore criminals.
In the ensuing scuffle, a group of residents who were opposed to the police operation resisted the arrest, prompting the police to open fire. As the fighting between residents and the police intensified, more police personnel were ferried in on patrol vans to contain the situation.
The deployment seemed to have compounded the already volatile situation as angry residents decided to torch a police patrol truck No.UP 0558. Its occupants escaped unhurt.
Police publicist Judith Nabakooba left the scene prematurely after residents tried to lynch her, while a Police cameraman was beaten severely.
Police constables have in the past participated in city shootings leading to loss of life, but yesterday’s incident appeared unprecedented. The three special police constables who participated in the shooting were detained at Wandegeya Police Station. Another unidentified youth who is suspected to have torched the Police patrol van was also arrested.
Ms Nabakooba said all the special police constables involved in the operation would be prosecuted for tarnishing the “good name of the Uganda Police”. “Even in the police we have wrong characters who just do things unprofessionally. But it is good they have been arrested and they are going to face the law,” she said.
The shooting spree will invoke concerns over whether special police constables (SPCs) are well trained to handle firearms. A police trainer, Andrew Kaweesi, recently advised the Police against assigning arms to special police constables.
In November 2007, a constable shot and killed two people in Lungujja, a Kampala suburb. Mr Jacob Wamusi, attached to Old Kampala Police Station, shot Sauda Nalubega, 13 and Fisal Ssegawa, 23.
