LC1 chairperson kills local
Police are holding a local council chairperson and two others for taking matters into their own hands by lyncing a 50-year-old suspected sorcerer in an act of mob justice.
The deceased, Mwanika Yokolamu, was a resident of Kadama village, Kadama Town Council in Kibuku District.
The suspects Ibrahim Mbulalina, the LC I Chairperson of Kadama village, connived with two others, whose identities have been withheld, to kill the victim shortly after they burned down his house.
LC1 chairperson kills local
According to preliminary investigations, the suspects maliciously torched the deceased’s home and properties in the wee hours of Sunday morning. Upon sensing the smoke, Yokolamu attempted to run by sneaking through the back door of his house.
However, he was seen attempting to flee and assaulted to death on claims he was using witchcraft to kill other locals in the area.
Immaculate Alaso, the Bukedi North Police Spokesperson, says the mob members later dumped the deceased’s body in the nearby cassava plantation belonging to one John Moding where police recovered it.
Alaso says that their investigations led to the LC I Chairperson who was arrested together with two other people.
Mob action takes place in the absence of any form of fair trial in which the accused are given a chance to defend themselves, the mob simply takes the law into its own hands
Mob justice is not only criminal but also amounts to a violation of human rights (Uganda Human Rights Commission, 2016). According to the Uganda Police Force’s (2013-2019) annual crime reports, 746 deaths by mob action were reported and investigated in 2019, compared to 426 in 2013, a 75% increase.
