Son kills father in fight over meat in Kisoro

A piece of meat. PHOTO/FILE
What you need to know:
- Police reports indicate that the deceased bought 1½ kg of meat which his wife Brandinah Niringiyimana cooked on February 1 and served to completion, causing a fight.
Police in Kisoro District have arrested a 17-year-old teenager on allegations of killing his 64-year-old father following a family misunderstanding over meat which the deceased bought anticipating visitors.
On Tuesday, Kigezi region police spokesperson Elly Maate identified the deceased as John Nsenga, a resident of Kinanira Cell, Mupaka Town Council in Kisoro District’s Central Ward.
Police reports indicate that Nsenga bought 1½ kg of meat which his wife Brandinah Niringiyimana cooked on February 1 and served to completion.
“However, on February 2 at around noon, the wife cooked beans, Irish potatoes and matooke (bananas). The husband refused to eat, saying that he wanted meat yet it had got finished the previous day,” Maate said.
“…and when the wife explained to him, he failed to understand and instead poured the food he had been served,” he added,
The misunderstanding triggered a scuffle during which their son Jay Ntwari returned from fetching water and found the couple quarrelling.
“…and after the son put down the water jerrycan, the father allegedly attacked the son with a panga asking where the meat was. The father used the said panga to cut his son Ntwari and injured him on the ear and the annoyed son retaliated by picking a stick which he used to hit his father on the head. Ntwari ran away,” police said.
Maate said the man died after he had reported his son at Mupaka Border police post.
“He was issued with a police medical form for examination, but when he reached Kinanira Health Centre III, he collapsed and was rushed to Mutolere Hospital where he was pronounced dead,” he said.
Police now say “the suspect has been arrested and will be arraigned upon completion of investigations.”
Kisoro District probation officer Moirah Kampire decried rampant cases of murder and defilement in southwestern Uganda, noting that culprits commit the offences under the influence of drug abuse and alcoholism.
“Recently a man defiled his 13-year-old daughter and on interrogation after arrest, he confessed that he was under the influence of drugs. We shall continue to use radio station air waves to sensitise the masses about the consequences of drug abuse and alcoholism since they are the driving factors in domestic violence cases that usually result in death,” Kampire said.
In Uganda, murder can attract extreme punishments including a death sentence.