Failing to pay one’s rent is not punishable with death in Uganda. That is why Police in Busia district have launched a manhunt for a man accused of killing his elderly tenant who was owing to him 30,000 shillings in rent arrears.
The suspect has been identified as 28-year-old Martin Egesa, a resident of Mugungu B village, Eastern division of Busia Municipality. He is accused of killing a 70 year old Jackson Kiyenze Guga, also a resident of Mugungu B village.
It’s reported that Egesa on Thursday evening attacked the deceased and beat him to death while demanding rental arrears of 30,000 shillings that he had not paid for the last three months.
Preliminary Police findings indicate that the deceased succumbed to injuries after being injured on the neck.
The deceased’s son, David Okello Masiya, says that their father left them at 10:00pm and it was within few minutes they heard him raising an alarm from the roadside. Upon their intervention, he only identified the suspect who assaulted him to death.
Okello says that their father’s landlord has been demanding the money frequently.
Godfrey Beneza, the L.C1 chairman of Mugungu B village says that he got the information about the killing of his resident from people at midnight. Only responding, he only found the lifeless body lying along the roadside and he called the police instantly.
He says that this is the first case of murder to be reported in the village this year and appealed to police to do thorough investigations of the matter for justice to prevail for the bereaved family by arresting the suspect who is on the run.
Timothy Pido, the officer in charge of crime investigation department-CID attached to Busia central police station says that it was when they reached the scene they learnt that there was a scuffle that left the man dead.
They have also deployed police officers to guard the home of the landlord that mobs wanted to demolish on Friday morning. Pido appealed to residents to be calm and allow police to carry out investigation in the matter.
Police have taken the body of the deceased to Busia health center IV for a postmortem report.
