Angry residents have torched down 600 acres of sugarcane plantations belonging to the Kakira Sugar factory in protest of the killing of their colleague.
The incident happened on Wednesday afternoon at Nailo village in the Kakira town council.
It all started on Sunday night when a guard attached to industrial security services fired live bullets at the deceased Batista Atayo on allegations of stealing metallic scrap belonging to Madhvani from one of the plantation.
However , a group of residents who were together with the deceased at the time of the incident claim they were approached in a pickup by guards of madvahni group who grabbed the deceased and bundled him onto the pickup before firing two gunshots at him.
Atayo’s body was later dumped at Jinja regional referral hospital mortuary.
This prompted the angry residents to storm Kakira police division, demanding the arrest of the guard in vain.
The Kakira Town Council LCIII Chairperson, Sande Kabule says that although he is against torching the planation, police should exercise fairness.
He noted that much as Madhivani group is a main investor in the region, residents were pushed to do this because police had refused to arrest the suspect knowing him too well which was totally unfair.
Mayur Madhivani, the managing director of Kakira sugar limited condemned the act saying its a national loss to farmers and the company.
Eric Sakwa the Jinja Resident District commissioner, says that security agencies are investigating the death of Atayo.
Mayur who expressed regret with the incident says that the factory has been forced to suspend the purchase of the out-growers cane so as to enable absorption of the burnt cane.
