Slain lawyer Sendegeya laid to rest, locals asked to be cautious with refugees

Following the killing of Isaac Sendegeya, a lawyer based in Kisoro District, authorities have appealed to local residents to be cautious when dealing with foreigners.

Speaking at Sendegeya’s burial ceremony, the Kisoro Resident District Commissioner Mr Peter Mugisha told residents to stop hosting foreigners, citing that some of them pose a threat to security.

“Some of the foreigners who come disguising as Congolese refugees harbour criminal intentions,” he said.

Sendegeya was murdered on Sunday at about 2:00 am as he returned from Kisoro town, but by the time police arrived, the scene had already tampered with by relatives.

Mr Mugisha and other local leaders also tasked locals to volunteer information about any persons possessing guns illegally so that they can be arrested and charged.

“People possessing illegal guns in Kisoro are responsible for the murder our beloved lawyer. We appeal to the local residents in this district to volunteer information about these people. The security operatives here are not angels to detect such wrong characters although they are vigilant gathering intelligence information about these wrong doers,” Mr Peter Mugisha said.

 “We need to work as a team if this problem of killing our innocent people is to be stopped. Anybody found involved in such criminal acts should be terminated on spot and report to the police to come and take the body to the mortuary,” he added

The burial ceremony was held at St Peters Gisoro Catholic Church in Kisoro municipality, presided over by Fr John Bazimenyera and Fr Ignatius Arinaitwe.

Fr Arinaitwe revealed that the deceased lawyer had already alerted the church leadership about his wedding that was scheduled to take place in June next year.

He warned residents against greed and hatred but asked for collective responsibility between the local residents and the security operatives in curbing criminal acts.

“For many years Kisoro district was a peaceful place to live in but in the last two years it has turned to be a place of killing innocent people either by shooting using guns or domestic violence. People doing business are living under fear while we church leaders no longer enjoy our sleep as we spend much time praying for God’s mercy to save his people from such murderers,” Arinaitwe said.
Members of Parliament for Kisoro Municipality and Bufumbira North Mr Sam Byibesho and Mr John Kamara asked the police to be vigilant and avail their telephone numbers to the local community members so that they can easily alert them in case of such issues.

“The fact that Kisoro district is located at the border of Rwanda and DRC poses a danger to the security system because after committing offences, criminals easily cross to another country to evade prosecution,” Byibesho said.

Family eulogises him

Ms Dinah Komugisha wife to the deceased lawyer said that she lost a good friend and husband that loved her so much and she promised to care for the two children that he left behind.

The body of the deceased lawyer Isaac Sendegeya was laid to rest at his ancestral home in Mukingo village Chihe Parish Nyakinama Sub County Kisoro district.

Profile

Isaac Sendegeya was born on October 24, 1979 to Mr Ismail and Ms Joy Sendegeya, went to Seseme Integrated School for his P.1 to P.3 and later joined Kalinabili primary school in Kampala where he completed he completed P.7.

He went to Ntare School in Mbarara district where left in senior three and completed O’ level at Kabindi secondary school in Kisoro district. He then joined Makerere High School for A’level.

In 2003 he joined Makerere University where he completed with a Bachelors of Laws degree and in 2009 he joined LDC for post graduate diploma and diploma in legal practice.

He worked in different law firms in Kampala and Jinja and in 2013 he opened up his own law chambers in Kisoro district with branches in Kabale, Mbarara and Kampala.