A 58-year-old man has died after he was allegedly assaulted while trying to stop a fight during the Local Council I (LC1) chairperson elections in Bududa District, in the latest election-related fatality reported across the country. The deceased, Michael Shiisa, a resident of Buwuma Cell in Khama Ward, Nangako Town Council, was reportedly attacked on Tuesday after intervening to separate people who were fighting during the LC1 elections for Khama Cell.
According to witnesses, Shiisa was allegedly beaten by children of Laurence Kakala, one of the candidates in the election, after attempting to calm the situation. He sustained serious injuries and was first rushed to Bududa Hospital before being referred to Mbale People’s Hospital, where he died on Wednesday evening.
An eyewitness, Ben Napoli, alleged that the violence erupted after Kakala’s children refused to allow election officials to read out the names of voters from the register, triggering anger among residents and sparking a confrontation. Bududa Resident District Commissioner Juliet Salome Namara, who was present at the polling station, said the clashes stemmed from disputes over the voters’ register.
According to Namara, residents questioned the authenticity of the register after the number of eligible voters reportedly increased from 81 to 110, raising suspicions that additional names had been irregularly added. Eric Fungo, the Nangako Town Council registrar, said he had been called to the polling station by the RDC to guide residents on the voting process, but the exercise could not proceed because residents demanded that names of people they claimed were non-residents be removed from the register.
Perez Namukowa, the presiding officer for Khama Cell, said he noticed the voters’ register appeared to have been prepared by more than one person because it contained three different handwriting styles, further fuelling suspicion among voters. Residents also alleged that one of Laurence Kakala’s children had compiled the register, claims that heightened tensions and culminated in the violence in which Shiisa was fatally injured. By the time of filing this report, police had deployed officers to Laurence Kakala’s home.
His children are alleged to have been involved in the assault, but the family had reportedly fled the area fearing retaliation from relatives of the deceased. Police had not yet issued an official statement on the incident or confirmed whether any arrests had been made, although investigations were ongoing-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
