Ex-Mwiri headmaster dies after machete attack en route to church

The former headmaster of Mwiri Primary School in Kakira town council, Jinja District, Alex Isabirye, on Saturday succumbed to multiple stab wounds sustained after being attacked by suspected robbbers.

Mr Isabirye was waylaid at around 5:30am on Friday, shortly after he exited the gate of his residence located in Nakanyonyi village, Jinja North City Division, allegedly en route to Miracle Centre Church in the same village for morning prayers.

Reports suggest that he was stopped by men riding on a motorcycle, who demanded that he hands over the small bag he was carrying.

It, however, later turned out that the bag contained a Bible which his assailants had mistaken for money and later cut him multiple times with a suspected machete.

Isabirye’s immediate neighbour, who has declined to be named, said he heard the scuffle between the thugs and victim, whom he later found with deep cuts on the head.

“When I peeped, I saw the thugs fleeing. Later, a vehicle was brought to take Isabirye to hospital,’’ the neighbour said on March 2, 2024.

Isabirye was first rushed to a health facility in Bugembe town, before being transferred to Jinja regional referral hospital, where he was referred to Mulago national referral hospital from where he died on Saturday.

The Jinja South Division Deputy Resident City Commissioner, Mr Henry Kitambula, confirmed the attack and warned of the resurfacing of machete-wielding thugs.

He said: “Remnants of thugs we had smoked out in Jinja North City Division, especially Bugembe, have come back and carried out attacks on people but security is moving towards them.”
Mr Kitambula further revealed that they are working on leads regarding Mr Isabirye’s murder, adding that earlier, about thirty suspected thugs were arrested in this area following complaints from locals.
Isabirye is the latest person to die after being attacked by thugs in the Bugembe area, after  Prossy Nyanga, a prominent weightlifter, and Rogers Kifubangabo, the son of Busoga Kingdom’s Minister for Information, Mr Michael Kifubangabo.

Isabirye served as a career educator for over four decades until his retirement at Mwiri Primary School on his 60th birthday on May 1, 2020.
Previously, he served at Namalere Primary School (1979-1980), Budondo Primary School (1981-1985), Njeru Primary School (1986-1988), Mwiri Primary School (1989-1994), Nakanyonyi Primary School (1995-2007), and Mwiri Primary School (2008 -2020). 
After his retirement, Mr Isabirye embraced commercial poultry farming among other businesses.