Businessman mourned as relatives seek answers

Charles Lwanga’s widow Ruth Lwanga (C) is comforted by her relatives during the requiem mass at Christ the King Church in Kampala yesterday. PHOTO BY MICHAEL KAKUMIRIZI

What you need to know:

Gone. Lwanga was on Monday morning shot in the lower abdomen near the Northern Bypass by unknown assailants.

KAMPALA. Hundreds of people yesterday flocked Christ the King Church in Kampala to pay their respects to slain businessman Charles Lwanga.
Lwanga was on Monday morning shot in the lower abdomen near the Northern Bypass by unknown assailants and died of his injuries on arrival at Mulago National Referral Hospital.
Preliminary police investigations show that Lwanga was shot by a person who was in the co-driver’s seat given the fact that a pistol cartridge was found on the co-driver’s seat of his car.
This, the police say, means the incident happened when the deceased had parked his car.
But the deceased’s family dispute the findings.
Mr Eddy Kigozi, a younger brother of the deceased, said Lwanga was pursued by two people on a boda boda motorcycle who shot him.
“After the incident, boda boda cyclists rushed to the scene and called the police several times but they got no response. So they got a car, put the victim inside and drove him to Mulago hospital,” Mr Kigozi said.
The Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson, Mr Patrick Onyango, said the Flying Squad Unit is hunting for Lwanga’s killers.
“We have obtained a court order to get printout (telephone records) of the deceased and the woman who called the police claiming to be his girlfriend. We want to understand the relationship (between Lwanga and the woman) and who he contacted before the shooting,” he said.
At the requiem mass at Christ the King, mourners had no kind words for the police and the government, accusing them of failing to protect the business community from criminals.
Businessman Frank Gashumba, a friend of the deceased, said: “Police was called twice but they couldn’t respond. But when Dr Kizza Besigye was going to Kabale District, he was escorted by several police patrols. …don’t blame the police, it is this government which is a problem,” Mr Gashumba said.
Lwanga is survived by a widow and five children. He will be buried today at Kirinya in Masaka District.