BUGIRI: The candidate for Justice Forum (JEEMA) in the Bugiri Municipality parliamentary election, Asuman Basalirwa, has said the gunshots that ended the life of his bodyguard on Friday morning targeted him.
Ramanthan Walyendo, 30, succumbed to gunshot wounds he sustained on Thursday during a campaign rally held along Saza Road in Bugiri municipality.
And speaking to this website in an interview on Saturday morning, Basalirwa said he narrowly survived being shot since he was standing next to the deceased at the time of the rally.
Basalirwa promised to follow up the matter and ensure the police officer who shot dead his supporter is arrested and arraigned in court.
Basalirwa further warned police against indulgence in violence, adding that Ugandans have freedom of movement.
Busoga East region police spokesman James Mubi said investigations into the matter are underway, adding that police will prosecute the officer who shot at crowd, accusing him of being reckless.
Mubi, however, blamed Basalirwa’s supporters for pelting stones at police officers who were assigned to ensure that no rally is held at Busoga University playgrounds following prior destruction of windows as a result of holding rallies inside.
The deceased, who doubled as a Boda Boda rider at Namutumba Stage, was on Thursday shot around 4:30pm as police battled a group of Basalirwa’s supporters who wanted to forcefully hold a rally at Busoga University playgrounds.
Walyendo who was hit in the chest by a stray bullet as he tried to escape from a group of supporters who pelted stones at police, was immediately rushed to First Line Medical Centre within the municipality, before transferred to Bugiri Hospital in critical condition.
However, a health worker at the hospital who preferred anonymity, said the deceased died as a result of excessive bleeding.
FDC’s Eunice Namatende, JEEMA’s Basalirwa, NRM’s John Francis Oketcho and Independents Siraji Lyavala Samanya and Joel Wamono are tussling for the seat ahead of election on July 27.
Bugiri Municipality was annexed from Bukooli County.
