The murderer of the Mayuge family members has been identified as Pte Herbertson Birivumbika,a Special Forces Command (SFC) soldier who allegedly over the weekend left his duty for a kill mission at Namatale Village, Kabayingire Parish in Buwaya Sub-county.
The SFC, through its spokesperson Jimmy Omara, confirmed on Monday, July 1, 2024, that their officer was arrested.
Omara said in a statement that Birivumbuka had escaped from his duty station and travelled to Namale Village, where he allegedly shot Isaac Mudhasi and his three children who died instantly.
Mudha’s other five family members sustained serious injuries, and their health remains at stake.
“Upon committing the offence, the said soldier then rushed back to his place of work in a bid to avoid any possible suspicion, but his unit had already detected his absence,” Omara said.
He said that “Once he returned, he was arrested because all fingers pointed to him. He is detained in our facility, awaiting the long arm of the law to dispense justice.”
The homicide shocked residents in Mayuge when the soldier walked into the home of Isaac Mudhasi, 42, who was found eviscerating chicken for a visitor and opened fire on the family members.
Diana Nanduwula, the Busoga East regional police spokesperson, identified other victims as Elesi Kafuko, 15, Resty Kantono, 13, and a son Nicholus Mudhasi, 6, who were killed on the spot.
“This is a very sad and regrettable incident. We would like to condole with the affected families. As a command, we would also like to ask the people of Namatale to cooperate with the investigators so that the suspect is quickly brought forward to face the law,” Omara said.
The disturbing attack was attributed to a long-standing land dispute that has been ongoing in court.
Omara regretted the incident saying that; “As UPDF (SFC), we would like to assure the population that our strategic relationship with the wanainchi (citizens) will be highly maintained as we weed out errant members of the force.”
