By JAMES KABENGWA
The family of the late former Buyende police commander, Mohammad Kirumira, has accused the police of blocking them from accessing his gratuity on the pretext that at the time of Kirumira’s death, the authorities were not sure about his rank.Mr Abubaker Kawooya, the father of the late police officer, said he has frequented the police headquarters asking for Kirumira’s gratuity in vain.
“At first they told me they did not know Kirumira’s account number. I gave it to them but I was told they were not sure of Kirumira’s rank,” Mr Kawooya told Daily Monitor yesterday. Mr Kawooya, who holds his son’s letters of administration, said he asked police to pay Kirumira’s gratuity as a corporal at one point but they were unyielding. “They promised to handle it in September 2020 but since then I have not heard from them. Police authorities have tossed me around without any explanation. I will seek legal advice for a way forward,” he said.
Mr Kawooya also said they asked the police to return his son’s salon car but authorities have refused to surrender it on grounds that it is an exhibit. Kirumira was shot dead in Bulenga, Wakiso District, in September 2018.Police arrested and charged two suspects, Abubakar Kalungi and Hamza Mwebe, both said to be former Allied Democratic Front (ADF) combatants, with the murder of Kirumira.In April 2018, five months before his death, Police Disciplinary Court had recommended the demotion of Kirumira from Assistant Superintendent of Police to Assistant Inspector of Police.
Police court had found Kirumira guilty of use of unnecessary excessive authority in contravention of Section 44(1) and 24(a) of the Uganda Police code.Mr Kawooya also said although he is happy that the government has arraigned some suspects in court, his interest lies more in the type of gun that killed his son. “I want to know the type of gun that shot the bullet. Where did it come from? Which unit uses such a gun? I think that will solve a lot. The rest I do not care,” he said.
