KAMPALA – Police has launched investigations into circumstances under which a man was shot dead by a private security guard in an attempted robbery at Rubaga Cathedral.
According to the deputy Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson, Luke Owoyesigyire, the incident happened on Wednesday night when four unknown assailants attacked the guard at Rubaga Cathedral armed with machetes and sticks.
It is alleged that the thugs wanted to rob offertories that were brought during the celebrity mass that was held at the cathedral. It is said the armed security guard intervened and shot dead one of the attackers whereas the others took off after sensing danger in an incident that happened at around 3 am.
Police identified the deceased as William Otuke. The security guard has since recorded a statement about the incident at Old Kampala police station detailing what transpired before and after the shooting. The deceased’s body is lying at the City mortuary. Lubaga Catholic Shrine contains images and statutes that resonate with the history of Catholicism in Uganda, white fathers and past clergy.
The raid on the shrine comes a month after unidentified thugs raided St Augustine Chapel at Makerere University and made off with offertories. The Chaplain, Fr. Josephat Ddungu released CCTV footage showing the thug breaking into the chapel on the night of August 12 around midnight and making off with an unspecified sum of money.
Other items that were stolen from the chapel included laptop, extension cables, boxes where the offertory for Mother Mary and Radio Maria were being kept. He asked members of the public to help identify the thief.
“So we’re able to see him on CCTV camera footage and that is the video clip that we’re circulating right now because he looks familiar from the way he went around he seems to have knowledge of where we keep our stuff,” Ddungu said.
Though same footage was shared with police, police have never come out to confirm whether the suspect was arrested. Ddungu said the Chapel administration could hardly tell how much money was in the stolen offertory boxes.
