Elderly people in Uganda live in fear of being killed

By Godfrey Olukya

KAMPALA, Uganda (AA) - As elderly people all over the world prepare to celebrate the International Day of Older Persons on Oct. 1, their counterparts in Uganda are living in fear and despair over being attacked and killed at night.

These fears came in the wake of several killings since July leading to the deaths by machete of at least 35 elderly people. Most of the killings took place in Masaka district, 110 kilometers (68 miles) west of the capital Kampala.

"Elderly people in Uganda are now living in misery. Apart from fear of being killed, many elderly people are losing their land to unscrupulous people who deal with officials in the Ministry of Lands and forge land titles indicating that the land belong to other people. Over 400 elderly people have been rendered homeless under such circumstances," Solomon Male, a prominent pastor and renowned critic in the East African country, told Anadolu Agency.

When the killings started in July, Uganda police spokesman, Fred Enanga said at a press conference: "We are investigating the killings taking place in Masaka district. We want to establish why the killers are targeting elderly people, especially those living alone. Our detectives have ruled out monetary benefits since suspects do not take anything from their victims."

- Fleeing for their lives

Many are fleeing the area to relatives living far away out of fear that they could also fall victim, said Masaka district councilor John Mukasa, urging action to "save the elderly people from the killers."

Jane Namuli, the daughter of one of the victims, said the killers had used her mother's phone to inform her of her mother's death.

"They called me at around 1 a.m. and told me that they had killed my mother but had taken nothing from her home. I called her neighbor, who went to my mother's home early in the morning and found her dead with wounds all over her body," Namuli recounted the harrowing experience.

Tom Lumbuye, whose 80-year-old father had been killed with similar wounds, got the revelation of the loss while on a business trip in neighboring South Sudan.

"I had taken pineapples to sell in Juba. While there, my young bother Dennis Lumbuye called me on the phone and informed me that our father had been butchered."

Lumbuye said his father lived alone after his mother's death and that all his siblings had left to go work in different towns across the country.

Esther Nanozi, 65, narrowly survived a similar attack in her home late at night. In an interview with Anadolu Agency, she related the horror of machete-wielding men breaking into her home, saying: "They used a big stone to hit the door on my house. The door collapsed and they entered. Immediately after they broke the door, I sounded a loud alarm that attracted neighbors."

Finding her bleeding profusely, her neighbors rushed Nanozi to the hospital, where she has been receiving treatment for the wounds she sustained.

Amid these killings, 69-year-old Yasin Tamale was one of those who fled Masaka. He now lives with his daughter's family in the capital Kampala where he intends to stay until he is sure that the killings have "stopped completely," he said.

- Killers organized and sponsored: President

In a national address last month, Uganda's president said the groups behind the killings in Masaka were organized and sponsored by unknown individuals.

Vowing to catch the killers, Yoweri Museveni said authorities already had "clues that will lead to their arrest."

Lawmakers discussed the incidents on Sept. 1, with members of parliament urging the government to take action and put a halt to the murders.

According to police, the killings started in July and continued into August and September. Security organizations have since intensified their investigations, arresting several people including two opposition lawmakers suspected of sponsoring the killings.

Though they have slowed down, new killings continue to occur. The latest incident came on Tuesday, when 60-year-old businessman Tom Bukerere was killed in his home.

The first such murder known to police had taken place on the evening of July 21, when army reservists John Kabanda, 70, and Vincent Kalya, 69, were killed.

Security organizations have embarked on identifying the relatives of all elderly people living alone in the greater Masaka area to ensure their protection.

"For an elderly person, who has been staying alone, it is better we arrange such people to stay with their relatives who can give them protection in the meantime," said police spokesman Fred Enanga.

Admitting to the killings, 15 suspects have been arrested so far, Enanga said. "They have given us valuable information like where they were recruited from and who recruited them."