Witnesses narrate fatal shooting of businessman Mugisha

KAMPALA. Witnesses yesterday spoke of scenes of chaos and horror at Quality Shopping Village in Namugongo, near Kampala, where a city bar owner was shot dead following a brawl over a scratched car.
After the shooting, a panicky private guard with Saracen attempted to flee before a crowd intercepted him. He was beaten up until his colleagues rescued him from the mob.

The suspect, Moses Ongoria, is currently detained at his hospital bed in Mulago Hospital in Kampala where he is undergoing treatment.

Ongoria reportedly shot dead Arnold Mugisha Ainebyona, the co-owner of Hickory Bar and Restaurant in Kololo, after a trolley they had used rolled off and hit another car in the parking yard.

Daily Monitor yesterday visited the crime scene and interviewed several witnesses, including the supermarket employees who requested not to be named in the story.

A man in his 40s who was at the shopping centre before and after the incident talked of how two security guards got caught up in the scuffle over a scratched car.

“I was actually there at Quality Naalya. The actual thing that happened, these guys came with a trolley, took off the things and released the trolley to roll and it hit someone’s car. The askari was very polite, he came and asked why they had done so and he told the guy to be patient and wait for the owner of the car so that they can sort out the case…. arrogantly, the guy jumped into the car and ask the askari to move, before he could move, he actually crashed his leg and the backup askari had to shoot him. Nothing more nothing less it’s just that level of arrogance. I am sorry the guy is dead but that’s too much,” he said.

Another witness who described himself as a boda boda cyclist and operating near Quality Supermarket, said he had parked across the supermarket entrance when he heard noise in the parking yard.

“I saw two men standing near a Toyota Mark X car quarrelling with a guard. The guard was pointing at another car shouting that they had hit it. I thought the driver of the Mark X had knocked another car. I saw other guards joining in and to stop the car from being driven away. Then when the car driver reversed, he hit the guard’s leg and he stepped back alarming,” he said.

The cyclist said another guard, who later was identified as Ongoria, rushed to a shelter near the entrance and picked the gun and returned to the scene.
“He walked straight to the car and shot the driver, but all the people around fled for their lives and others screamed in panic, thinking that the guard was also going to shoot them,” the boda boda rider said.

He said the guard then rushed back to the shelter and dropped the killer gun.
Another cyclist, who declined to reveal his name, said when they came out the hiding, they saw the guard, who shot Mugisha, running unarmed out of the entrance.

“Then people ran after him, arrested him and beat him up until his fellow guards rescued,” he said.
This cyclist, however, denied participating in the beating.

Kampala Metropolitan Police deputy spokesman Luke Owoyesigyire said they have recorded statements from witnesses and one of the colleagues of the deceased.

“We are yet to record a statement from the suspect since he is still undergoing treatment. The good thing is that he is responding to treatment and can talk though with difficulties,” Mr Owoyesigyire said. Police authorities are expected to record more statements from the guards who were on duty as well as Quality Shopping Village employees and managers.

Mr Owoyesigyire, without offering any details about the second security guard who was allegedly injured in the scuffle, said the killer firearm was recovered and will be taken for examination.

Obligations of the Security companies

• Private Security Organisations (PSOs) must provide quality service to their clients. DPCs who supervise the operations of PSOs in their areas must at all times ensure that the operational staff of these private organization abide by the standard minimum code of conduct that they have signed on.
• A PSO must ensure that its uniforms are described in a gazette notice, that its uniform must not resemble that of any government security force or that of another PSO.
• PSOs must pay the wages and allowances to their employees promptly. To this end, they must file their monthly salary accounts with the police to ensure they are complying with this requirement.
  PSOs are not allowed to deduct any money from guards to cater for the uniforms and other equipment that they use. This transfer of such cost to employees is strictly forbidden.
• The employers must take appropriate insurance cover for their employees. Police is expected to check that all guards are insured due to the nature of the risks involved in their work.
• The PSOs must obtain and have all the necessary licences stipulated in the law before engaging in security operations.
• It is also a requirement for PSOs to report to the district CID officer any investigations they may be conducting of a criminal nature, and to give a final report at the end of every investigation.
• The PSOs are also required to ensure strict observance of human rights by their employees.
• PSOs must also keep regular contact with police and notify police of any incidents that may require specialised police services.
• PSO must not employ non-Ugandans except with the express permission of the IGP.
• No director of a PSO can travel out of country without permission of the IGP.
• Any staff of a PSO travelling outside the country must be authorised by their managing director, who in turn must report to the IGP about staff who have travelled out of the country.
• PSO are required to file all particulars of their staff including fingerprints within two weeks of employment to the IGP, and to file quarterly staff returns.