The police are hunting for a female driver who was shot and injured by a police guard after she allegedly refused to heed instructions to stop near the Speaker of Parliament’s residence in Kampala City yesterday.
After the shooting, an unidentified woman driving a Toyota Harrier was evacuated from the vehicle she was driving, and taken to an unidentified medical facility.
Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson, Ms Racheal Kawala, said they are looking for the female driver to interview her and also establish the extent of the injuries.
‘We have picked interest in the incident and investigations are ongoing. We are tracing for the victim,’ Ms. Kawala said yesterday.
It is alleged that at around midday, the female driver was instructed to stop to allow the convoy of the Speaker of Parliament, Anita Among, to pass, at Mackinnon Road in Kampala City, but she continued to drive prompting the police guard to shoot at her.
Ms. Kawala said they would talk to both the shooter and the victim to understand the situation before apportioning blame.
With the increase in Ugandans given armed guards, the number of incidents of shootings or altercations by escorts and members of the public have increased.
The place of the shooting is just a kilometre away from where another shooting happened in December 2024.
A 32-year-old truck driver, Julius Ssemwaka, was shot dead by Police Constable Charles Bahati after a road rage incident after the victim allegedly couldn’t reverse his vehicle to allow a convoy of a judicial officer to pass at a junction near Sheraton Hotel in Kampala City.
The suspected shooter, who was attached to the VIPPU and guarding a judicial officer, fled and has since gone into hiding.
Police said PC Bahati is a wanted person.
Another incident happened on March 24, 2019, when Corporal David Ssali suspected Ronald Ssebulime, 40, a biker, of trailing the then State Minister of ICT, Ms. Idah Nantaba, in Kayunga District. Cpl Ssali arrested Ssebulime and handcuffed him before shooting him dead.
Cpl Ssali was later arrested and sentenced to 20 years in jail.
In 2016, the police guard on the convoy of the then Chief Justice Bart Katureebe shot Shaban Oyela, whom they alleged was holding an iron bar and came close to the vehicle their principal was in at Bugolobi, Kampala City. Oyela was injured and died the next day at Mulago National Referral Hospital.
Another incident happened in 2024 when the police detained a motorist after he was arrested for allegedly attempting to force his way into State Lodge Nakasero in Kampala.
Shafik Bwanika was arrested on charges of attempted breach of security at one of the gates of President Museveni’s home by a car that reportedly wanted to forcefully gain access to the premises at around 2pm on April 30, 2024, according to Special Forces Command (SFC).
‘SFC soldiers on guard thwarted the breach after the car registration number UBE 434T and driven by Mr. Shafik Bwanika came at breakneck speed ignoring all security protocols that were severally signalled to them. In a bid to stop the speeding car, warning shots were fired but to no avail. The guards then targeted the car tyres which eventually got flattened and slowed down the car,’ the SFC spokesperson Maj. Jimmy Omara told journalists at the time.