Stampede as boy storms meeting, punches MP

Moroto. A Moroto District council sitting was on Tuesday paralysed for about two hours after a boy, appearing mentally unstable, charged at Matheniko County MP John Baptist Lokii and punched him hard on the head for unclear reasons.
The incident, which happened at around 10am, sent councillors scampering for safety and the speaker fled her chambers.
The council resumed the proceedings after police arrested the boy.
Mr Andrew Napaja, the district chairperson, described the incident as shocking and said such people should always be confined in isolated places.
He said the incident was the first of its kind in the district and called upon the public to always be cautious of people who are mentally unstable.
“Imagine if this man had a knife! He would have killed the Member of Parliament and we are wondering how he came and singled out the MP to punch him,” Mr Napaja said.
Mr Lokii was attending the council sitting, which was discussing land and investment issues in Moroto.
Ms Rose Lokii Adero, the speaker, who also is a wife to Mr Lokii, said the MP demanded that the boy be taken for medical examination to ascertain his mental status.
She castigated the media for picking interest in the matter and ignoring other “pertinent issues.”
“You media are unfair to us because what you are reporting is not of human interest. We as the family of Honourable Loki are not happy about the incident,” she said.
Mr Lokii could not pick our repeated calls. Mr Richard Aruk Maruk, the Moroto regional police commander, said they were making arrangements to take the suspect to hospital to examine his mental status before preferring charges against him.
“The charges would be assault but right now we first want to take him for medical check-up to ascertain his mental status,” he said.