Light dims on Akena, a child rights activist

Kampala.

Kenneth Akena Watmon had burst into work life and onto the social scene with gusto. Out of school and with a paying job, the 33-year-old looked forward to starting his own family. The elders call it “settling down”.

Akena, worked with ACODEV, a non-governmental organisation in the western Uganda district of Kasese, after stints as a Community Development Officer in his Pader home district and project assistant with a Canadian NGO. He was expected to marry his long-time fiancée next February.

Instead, emotionally overwhelmed relatives and friends huddled at Gang-Dyang ward, Kitgum Municipality, to bid farewell as A-Funeral Service pallbearers lowered his body into the grave on the journey of no-return.

Confusion shrouds the circumstances leading to the abrupt end to his bubbling and fun life.

He died of bullet wounds after being shot in Lugogo, a Kampala suburb. That Akena who, as a child, survived staccato of bullets and abduction by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels would be eliminated on a city street in a gangster style shooting evoked both anguish and compassion. In 2003, while a student at St Mary’s Seminary Lacor in Gulu, the LRA struck to unleash their signature brutality.

The insurgents conscripted about 40 students but Akena and some of his colleagues clung underneath the beds as the rebels rummaged through the dormitory, according to Massey Ferguson engineer Deo Otim, who survived the same raid.

“He never wanted to see a child suffering like he did during the war times. His passion was ignited by our colleagues who were abducted by LRA rebels,” Mr Otim said.

Mr Isaac Lubela, a forensic expert at Immigration Department, said “the rebels attacked our dormitory in the night [and] abducted 40 of our colleagues. We survived by [clutching] ourselves underneath the beds.”

The agony of a challenged childhood had ignited in Akena a spirit of compassion. He saw no reason to eat if a child was starving, partly explaining why he invested to work with and for children’s welfare and protection against injustices.

He had not come from a particularly needy family. The ex-seminarian’s parents were accomplished civil servants; his father Francis Omona was a former district engineer and the mother, Ms Suzan Omona, a tutor at Kitgum Primary Teachers College.

As the fifth born in a family of seven, Akena’s adventurous world had brought him into contact and friendship with hundreds. They descended in droves for the requiem Mass at Our Lady of Africa Church in Mbuya, a Kampala suburb.

Fr Paulino Mondo, the main celebrant, asked for a review of procedures and regulation in issuing firearms to private individuals to prevent senseless loss of lives in the country.

Raw emotion has since gripped the nation in the tragedy that befell Akena, who met his death a fortnight to his 34th birthday.

Police have taken into custody Mathew Kanyamunyu and his girlfriend, a prospective well-connected couple, to help with ongoing investigations. Distraught relatives and friends hope time and meticulous investigative work will help unbundle the facts to facilitate a successful prosecution of the killers.

His brothers Thomas Watmon and Jordan Watmon spoke of a loving sibling and a dedicated child rights activist.

“During our childhood, there was no peace because of rebel activities. Our agemates could be killed every day. Akena told us that he would never let a child suffer in his vicinity,” Mr Thomas said, struggling to withhold tears.

Many mourners wept openly, while tears rolled down the cheeks of many who sobbed silently.

Dr Danny Gotto, who was Akena’s workmate at ÀCODEV, a child protection organisation under Usaid’s sustainable outcomes, said the deceased exhibited simplicity, respect and was non-confrontational.
“Akena never addressed people by their names.

He would describe them as senior or young brothers and sisters. I am not surprised that he had moved out of his car to negotiate because that was his nature,” Dr Gotto said.

It was a tragic decision. Across communities and in the media, there is a deafening call for justice. Akena’s death seems to have pricked the country’s conscience. In a fateful way, death has posthumously transformed him into a colossus that life denied.

The Acholi name Akena literally translates as “I am alone”. Indeed, his body will find a new home in the grave unaccompanied.

IGP speaks

During the burial, for fear of endangering police investigations, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Gen Kale Kayihura, avoided answering questions on preliminary police investigations into Akena’s death and the continued dentetion of the suspects [Matthew Kanyamunyu and his girlfriend Cynthia Munwangari] beyond the legally accepted 48 hours.

However, the IGP insisted that investigations were still continuing even as he explained that the suspected killer could have thrown away the gun after shooting Akena.

The IGP also admitted that “there are many guns” in private hands and appealed to Parliament to tighten the gun laws in the country.