Two cleaners arrested in connection to Ministry of Agriculture stores fire

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Two suspects are in police custody in connection to the fire that gutted the agrochemicals and equipment stores belonging to the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industries and Fisheries in Wandegeya on Sunday.

Police have identified the suspects as Jerry Ajambo and Eunice Namusimbi, both cleaners at the facility. They are suspected to have been around the store when the fire started at around 11:00 am.

According to eyewitness accounts, the fire began from a heap of garbage that was burning outside the storage facility. ASP John Steven Ogwang, the Wandgeyea Division Police Commander says that they picked up the suspects to help them in the investigations.

ASP Jackson Karuhanga, in charge of the Fire and Rescue Services blamed the fire on the negligence of the cleaners who lit it near a generator that blew up.

It took the firefighters three hours to put out the fire. According to the officers, it took them long to contain the fire because the National Water and Sewerage Cooperation had turned off the fire hydrants around town.

Sergeant Abdallah Latif, one of the firefighters said 90 percent of the fire hydrants nearby were off and as such the fire trucks had to drive back to the Fire and Rescue Services headquarters located at the clock tower for refilling.

By the time of publishing this story, it was still hard to determine the extent of the damage caused by the fire. However, a number of agrochemicals, knapsack sprayers, vaccines, financial records, fridges and plastic containers are part of the things destroyed by the fire. The other items included educative materials like books and pamphlets.

Charlotte Kemigisha, the Spokesperson of the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, says they are in the process of determining what has been destroyed by the fire.

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