Ugandan MP shot dead in Kampala by gunmen on motorcycle
A Ugandan Member of Parliament and his brother were murdered in cold blood near his home in Kampala on Friday night, in an incident that has sparked fear over raising insecurity in the country.
Arua Municipality MP, Ibrahim Abiriga, who is known to be fiercely loyal to President Yoweri Museveni, was shot dead by two people riding on a motorbike at about 6:30pm.
He was murdered alongside his brother Saidi Butele, who doubles up as his bodyguard.
President Museveni has since conveyed messages of condolences to the family and friends of the bereaved.
“I have received news about the senseless killing of Arua Municipality MP Hon Ibrahim Abiriga, and his bodyguard on the city’s outskirts. I have tasked security agencies to expeditiously find these killers and the nation will be updated soon. May his soul rest in peace,” said Museveni.
YELLOW OUTFITS
Abiriga is best remembered for being among lawmakers who spearheaded the move to amend the country’s constitution to remove Article 102b so as to have the 75-year presidential age limit removed.
This was interpreted as a move to allow President Museveni extend his more than three-decade stay in power.
Besides, he was also known to religiously don yellow outfits and drive in a yellow car, colours associated with the ruling National Resistance Movement party.
The circumstances surrounding Abiriga’s death resemble that of the country’s late former Assistant Inspector General of Police Andrew Kaweesi and his two bodyguards in Kampala in March 2017.
Kaweesi and his colleagues were also shot dead by assailants riding a motorbike in a killing that shocked the nation.