Askari shoots himself after losing boda boda he was paid to keep

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | John Bosco Bakya, a private security guard from Security Group Africa (SGA), shot himself dead on Friday after losing a motorcycle he had been paid 1,000 Shillings to protect. The incident occurred at a fuel station in Kinyarwanda village, Nakawa Division, in Kampala. Bakya and his colleague, Siliwan Apeti, were approached by a man who requested them to guard his Bajaj Boxer UEO 570E motorcycle overnight.

When they realized the bike had disappeared the next morning, Bakya expressed extreme worry about being forced to pay for it and potentially being arrested by the police.

“I tried to comfort him and he seemed to have listened. But when I was a few meters away from him, I heard a bullet sound,” Apeti said. The deputy Kampala metropolitan police spokesperson, Luke Owoyesigyire, said the police were alerted, and officers collected the cartridges, the deceased’s gun, and took the body for a postmortem.

Owoyesigyire noted that Bakya should have reported the loss to his superiors or the police, as a search for the motorcycle could have been launched. “He rushed to end his life. It took him only two hours after he realized the motorcycle had been stolen,” Owoyesigyire said. The police are now investigating the incident, focusing on Apeti and the motorcycle owner, to determine if foul play was involved.

In a separate incident, Diana Kotusiime was arrested for dumping her newborn baby boy in a pit latrine in Naggalama, Nakifuma, Mukono District. Locals heard the baby’s cries and swiftly rescued it, taking the infant to a nearby health facility for treatment. Owoyesigyire expressed gratitude to the community members who rescued the baby.

Kotusiime, who was also in poor condition, was taken to the hospital for treatment. She reportedly said that she had been abandoned by the baby’s father and had suffered through the pregnancy alone. The authorities are handling both incidents with the seriousness they deserve, ensuring proper investigations and providing necessary support.

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