Police in Nakasongola District have arrested four suspects and launched a manhunt for 20 others following the killing of a security guard who was reportedly shot dead after confronting suspected intruders at a farm.The deceased has been identified as Innocent Tonny Okot, 22, an employee of Axis Warriors Ltd who was deployed at the late Jotham Mafende’s farm in Kikuuta Village, Lwabyata Sub-county.
The incident occurred at about 3 a.m. on Monday, October 26, 2026. According to Savannah Regional Police spokesperson Sam Twiineamazima, Okot and his colleagues were confronted by more than 25 intruders who had allegedly entered the farm armed with spears and appeared to be harvesting lungfish from flooded sections of the ranch.
Okot, together with fellow security guards Francis Oryem and Patrick Ojara, reportedly managed to apprehend four suspects and recovered spears and lungfish before the other intruders fled. Twiineamazima said Okot pursued some of the fleeing suspects, but his colleagues were shortly afterwards startled by gunshots.
“They rushed to the scene and found Okot crying out that he had been shot and that his gun, which had five rounds of ammunition, had been robbed by unknown assailants,” Twiineamazima said. The guards attempted to rush Okot to a medical facility, but he died shortly afterwards from a gunshot wound to the groin. Police were notified of the incident and launched investigations into the killing and the theft of the firearm. Okot’s body was subsequently taken to Nakasongola Health Centre IV for a postmortem examination.
Police have since arrested four suspects, while efforts to track down the 20 others are ongoing. According to Twiineamazima, investigators are pursuing charges of murder and aggravated robbery against the suspects. During an extended search of the scene, officers recovered the stolen firearm, which reportedly had two rounds of ammunition remaining. They also recovered spears, 20 pieces of lungfish and torches believed to have been used by the intruders.
Twiineamazima said investigations were continuing to establish the circumstances surrounding the killing and apprehend the remaining suspects. The killing comes against the backdrop of previous land disputes involving the same farm. In 2024, Dan Ssebyala, a kibanja holder on the property, was reportedly hacked to death by unidentified assailants armed with machetes in an incident suspected to have been linked to a land dispute.
The expansive property was formerly associated with the late Jotham Mafende, who reportedly claimed ownership of approximately five square miles of land and acquired land titles around 2018. However, the claimed boundaries reportedly overlapped with local homesteads, community roads, a water dam, and other public institutions, triggering disputes over land ownership and access-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
