Local musician Denis Oringa Oloya alias Master Blaster who succumbed to bullet shots on Tuesday morning is to be buried tomorrow according to close sources!
Master Blaster was shot two times in the stomach at Eden Service Park, a pub in Bwaise along Nabweru road in Kampala. This was during a scuffle allegedly between a group of Ugandan youth and South Sudanese nationals.
A scuffle broke out at about midnight and went on till morning at 6:00am when the shooting took place. The bar management was forced to lock the Sudanese revellers inside the bar until morning but on opening up, their rivals were waiting for them, sparking another fight.
As police tried to disperse the crowd, one charged youth tried to reach out to an armed policeman and incidentally the policeman started shooting and that is how the stray bullets caught Master Blaster. He was declared dead shortly after reaching Mulago referral Hospital where Police had rushed him.
Corporal Gonzaga Wagaba attached to Kawempe Police Station and 63 others have been arrested following the death of Master Blaster after police spent the better part of the 30th December day in running battles with Bwaise residents who were trying to harm Sudanese residents in the area, most of them have sought refuge at neighboring police stations.
South Sudanese students at their embassy in Kampala, Uganda (ST/File)
However, it took the intervention of singer Bobi Wine to calm Bwaise locals together with police before peace could return in the area. The singer's body was moved from Mulago mortuary to Bwaise and later National Theatre and on Thursday, the body will be taken to Lamwo district.
Bobi Wine with Police forging away forward to calm down residents
Meanwhile, the government of South Sudan has sent a condolence message to the family of the later Master Blaster, and appealed for calm.
“It was an accident and we are sorry for all those who have been hurt in the process” South Sudan Embassy in Uganda.
Police spokesperson, Fred Enanga, said preliminary investigations indicate that on the fateful day Wagaba (who allegedly shot) and six other policemen on patrol rushed to Eden Service Park following the brawl.
He said they found revellers already drunk and shouting but not fighting as it had been reported. Enanga said Wagaba allegedly shot the deceased in the stomach during the process thus leading to his death.
He stressed that they are now investigating as to why Wagaba withdrew his pistol and shot at people who were not fighting.
"What transpired in Bwaise did not call for such action. By the time you release a bullet targeting someone's stomach proves that you wanted to injure," he noted.
Enanga said Wagaba is being detained at Kawempe Police station pending further investigations into the matter.
The other 63, mainly youths, were arrested over allegations that they were attacking South Sudanese in the area accusing them of causing Oloya's death. They allegedly torched their houses, smashed cars and looted property.
The Police have offered to meet all burial expenses including feeding mourners at Bwaise and at Namuwonge at the deceased's mother's home.
Master Blaster's burial will take place at Palabek Gem village in Lamwo district formally part of Kitgum.
Musician Bob Wine who held several meetings with police officers however said he had rejected the shs4m offer saying the money was too little to meet all the expanses.
He said the musicians demanded that the Police pay a funeral service company to transport, buy a decent coffin and meet all the required expenses to give a more decent send-off to their colleague.
Bobi Wine and Mr. Onyango doing an agreement to raise the budget
Onyango later said that the police had agreed with their demands and accepted to re-adjust their budget but did not disclose their final offer.
May his soul Rest In Peace
