The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | A woman who lost her 22-year-old son in a shooting in Kakajjo, Bweyogerere two years ago has been awarded a compensation of 90 million Shillings.
The deceased, John Opio Taban was shot on April 21, 2018 by a Police Constable identified as Robert Byamugisha under circumstances that remain unclear to date and died at the Intensive Care Unit of Mulago Hospital moments later. A subsequent postmortem confirmed that he succumbed to excessive bleeding a result of bullet wounds.
In the aftermath of the gruesome incident, his mother Rose Akech dragged the government to court demanding the police officer be held liable for his actions which were not only wrong and unlawful but violated the rights of the victim and his four dependents. Akech sought general and special damages, interest and costs of the suit.
Today, High Court Judge Musa Sekaana said that Byamugisha’s actions pointed towards wrongful or negligent use of the gun in performance of his duties in the course of his employment as a police officer. He said that the court did not find a reason to justify the shooting.
Sekaana said that death caused by reckless or negligent use of a firearm by persons in charge of protecting the citizenry is one of the worst crimes in any civilized society, adding that such actions are a blow to the rule of law. On the basis of this, he awarded the mother a compensation for the life lost during the unlawful act.
In August 2019, Justice Sekaana awarded one Vincent Kaggwa, a compensation of 500 million Shillings in damages for injuries inflicted on him by Corporal Angura in a 2014 shooting in Masaka district. Kaggwa sustained multiple gunshots wounds to his chest and back which affected his urinary catheter and spinal code.
In December 2019, Ssekaana awarded a compensation of 70 million Shillings to Abdallah Byabashaija whose wife Stella Kabasinguzi was shot dead by a police officer in Kasubi about eleven years ago.
*****
URN
