Uganda – East Africa.

Kampala – An Irish Catholic priest, his driver and another passenger were killed on a road in northeastern Uganda by gunmen believed to be soldiers, an army spokesperson said on Saturday.

Police said the three men were shot on Thursday evening about 350km from Kampala in the volatile Karamoja region as they drove from Moroto town to Father Declan O’Toole’s parish in Kotido district.

Army spokesperson Major Shaban Bantariza said two soldiers believed to be involved in the murders had been picked up on Friday night and would be court martialed.

“The reports so far received lead to the suspicion that soldiers were involved and two have already been apprehended,” Bantariza said.

“The court martial has been immediately convened to try and punish them according to the law.”

Disarming tribesmen by force

Local press reports said Father O’Toole was beaten by Ugandan soldiers earlier this month after he accused them of torturing parishioners that the army suspected of hiding guns.

The Karamoja region has been unstable for years because of the large number of arms held by the area’s nomadic tribesman.

For years, armed Karimojong cattle rustlers have been carrying out bloody raids among themselves and against neighbouring tribes. The violence has seriously hampered development in northeastern Uganda.

Last year Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni launched a drive to disarm the Karimojong tribe of an estimated 40 000 guns. The deadline for voluntary disarmament expired last month and the army is currently disarming the tribesmen by force.

The New Vision newspaper said another vehicle, belonging to the Church of Uganda, was also ambushed at the same spot. Its driver refused to stop and was shot in the back several times as the thugs riddled his car with bullets, the paper said.

SOURCE: [ www.news24.com, Story by news24.com, Original Publication ]