Mysterious fire guts Chief Justice’s chamber

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Several documents are feared destroyed after a fire outbreak in the Supreme Court building in Kololo in Kampala. The fire broke out in the Chief Justice’s chambers on the third floor at about 10:10 am Wednesday morning but was quickly put out.

According to sources, the fire broke out when a woman opened the door next to the Chief Justice’s chambers and switched on the light, which triggered a blast. The sources claim that the fire has burnt a number of vital documents in the chambers.

This video of the building housing the supreme court seemingly on fire just came in on a certain lawyers page. In Uganda, we we can only ascribe this to accident, negligence or an attempt to make evidence/file disappear. pic.twitter.com/DCKLl50LvN

— RICHFAITH (@HaroldTurijay) April 27, 2022

URN couldn’t independently verify the claims. Dozens of Supreme Court staff were seen evacuating from the building, which has been closed to the public. A team of police officers from the Fire and Rescue Service Department are on the ground to try and contain the fire.

By the time the fire broke out, Justices Eldard Mwangusha and Mike Chibita had reported for duty. Counter-Terrorism Police have cordoned off the building and are stopping members of the public from taking pictures of the burning building.

Both the Police and Judiciary Spokesperson, Jamson Karemani couldn’t be reached for comment on the fire incident by the time of publishing this story.

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URN