Mob demolishes 30 houses in Mayuge
One of the houses demolished by a mob in Mpungwe Sub-county, Mayuge District, last week. PHOTO BY YAZID YOLISIGIRA
Mayuge- Angry residents of Wamulongo village in Mpungwe Sub-county, Mayuge District, last week demolished more than 30 houses belonging to members of the same clan.
They accuse the clan members of killing one of their neighbours, Zedekiya Mwesigwa, with whom they had been wrangling over a piece of land.
The residents started by flattening the house of a one Fred Mutekanga. They later destroyed his crops and killed his livestock and those of his known relatives.
Source of conflict
Mr Mutekanga and Mwesigwa are said to have been wrangling since 2012 when the former sued Mwesigwa for allegedly attempting to grab 60 acres of his land.
“Matters were worsened in September last year when Mr Mutekanga won the case and Mwesigwa refused to honour the ruling,” said Mr Abdu Waibi, a resident.
But last week’s trouble is said to have begun when the deceased together with members of his family attacked Mr Mutekanga who was working in his garden, accusing him of uprooting their cassava.
The quarrel is said to have degenerated into a fight between the two families which allegedly ended in Mwesigwa’s death.
The Mpungwe Sub-county chairperson, Mr Suleiman Kato, said the mob action started soon after police moved in and arrested Mr Mutekanga and some members of his family in connection with the death.
Mayuge OC CIID Abdul Nasser Mulimira said six people have so far been arrested and several weapons, including a panga and iron bars, which are suspected to have been used in the fight, recovered.
