Suspect, his two-year-old son shot dead during arrest over land row

A 40-year-old man and his two-year-old son were shot and killed on Friday by one of the police officers deployed to effect arrest following a family land row in Hoima District in western Uganda.
It is alleged that the man, only identified as Rwothupe had been involved in a land row with his elderly mother, only identified as Tereza, both residents of Nzorobi village in Nzorobi parish Kabale Sub County, Hoima District.

Neighbours said the dispute started when Rwothupe accused his mother of attempting to sell part of the family land without his consent. 
Mr Joseph Olama, the village chairman said his office had earlier tried to settle the disputed between the two but failed before he referred the case to Kabaale police post in Hoima District.

He said on Friday morning, Tereza went to Kabaale police post and reported that his son (Rwothupe) was threatening to kill her over the land.
Consequently, police deployed officers to arrest Rwothupe.  
Eye witnesses told this reporter that a scuffle ensued between Rwothupe and the officers as he attempted to resist arrest, accusing the officers of conniving with his mother.

“He confronted the armed officers with a machete and a hoe. One of the officers fired in the air but in vain. During the scuffle, Rwothupe was shot in the thigh. A bullet caught his son in the chest and he died instantly. Rwothupe also lost a lot of blood before he died,” one of the neighbors who preferred not to be name in the story told this reporter.

Nzorobi parish councilor, Mr Nathan Ahebwa, said ‘‘currently the whole village is in shock after two of our residents were shot dead by police.’’
According to him, the police officers who participated in the shooting should be investigated and prosecuted.
The Albertine region police spokesperson, Mr Julius Hakiza, confirmed the shooting and said they had commenced with investigations.

According to him, detectives from Hoima Central Police station had been dispatched to gather evidence which would be used to compile a report and inform their next course of action.
The bodies of the deceased were, by press time, still at Hoima City mortuary pending postmortem.  
Land disputes are widespread in Uganda, affecting several landholders with many escalating into violence and death.

This and several other land disputes form a bulk of cases before police and in the courts of law.

The 2020 police crime report registered 319 cases, out of which only 20 cases were disposed of by the courts of law. The reported cases included obtaining registration by false pretence (70), forgery and uttering a false dopxument (54), obtaining money by false pretence (47), criminal trespass (62), concealing title deeds (22), malicious damage (14), unlawful evictions (11) and fraudulent sale of land (10).

Fraudulent land transaction, according to police led to loss of over Shs4 billion that year.