Anger as MPs condemn killing of teachers in South Sudan
Willis Binsiima alias Herbs (left) and Charles Kule (right)
Parliament. The Speaker of Parliament, Ms Rebecca Kadaga, has directed the State minister for Regional Affairs, Mr Philemon Mateke, to give a progress report on the process of East African integration next month.
The Speaker’s directive came after Kasese District Woman Member of Parliament Winfred Kiiza questioned the relevance of the East African Community (EAC) when Ugandans are being mistreated and killed with impunity in South Sudan, a member state.
She was speaking in regard to the killing of Ugandan teachers in South Sudan on Sunday. The deceased, Charles Kule Mitsagharu and Willis Binsiima, were teaching at Hope and Resurrection Secondary School in the Western Lakes State in South Sudan.
“We are talking about Pan Africanism and integration of EAC when Ugandans are killed for being foreigners in South Sudan a member state,” the former Leader of Opposition in Parliament said.
She added: “Uganda is host to more than 800,000 South Sudanese refugees who are living in camps and our people who go to offer a service of teaching Mathematics and Physics are killed because of being foreigners in South Sudan.”
The late Mistagharo and his colleague Binsiima were reportedly shot dead by a mob of armed Dinka who spared Mr Anthony Mading, the head teacher of the school at which they were teaching because he was a native of the area.
They were driving a school vehicle after picking their head teacher, Mr Mading, from his home in Rumbek Town when the mob stopped them at a place called Apec.
Avenging
It is alleged that the mob was avenging the death of one of the area residents who was reportedly knocked dead the previous day by a vehicle bearing a foreign number plate.
Ms Kiiza said it is “disheartening” for the government of South Sudan not to carry out a postmortem and treat the dead bodies since they were picked up from the scene and taken to the Rumbek Catholic Diocesan Hospital mortuary.
The bodies of the deceased were, upon return after being airlifted to Kasese Airfield on Wednesday, taken to Kilembe Mines Hospital where a postmortem was carried out before being handed over to the respective families for burial.
Ms Kiiza said the two teachers were offering a service to the South Sudanese education sector as Pan Africanists and did not deserve such a treatment of being killed because they are not natives.
Speaker Kadaga issued a directive to the Regional Affairs minister to come to the House at the start of the 4th Session of the 10th Parliament next month to update the country.
