By Our Reporter
NATIONAL
Uganda Wildlife Authority has spoken out on the heinous killing of two tourists and their Ugandan guide in the evening of Tuesday 17th October 2023 at Nyamunuka along Katwe- Kabatooro, Queen Elizabeth National park in Kasese District.
According to UWA Press release, the tourists were a newlywed couple that had chosen Uganda as their honeymoon destination. The groom was a UK citizen while the bride was South African.
UWA however, deliberately hid the identities (names) of all the three, saying the third victim was a Ugandan Tourist guide and driver.
The trio was travelling under Gorilla and Wildlife Safaris, a local tour company. The attack has got President Museveni saying, this was a heinous act on innocent citizens by ADF terrorists running away from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
PRESIDENT MUSEVENI’S FULL STATEMENT
Fellow Ugandans and, especially, the Bazzukulu. Yesterday, the 17th of October,2023, we had a most unfortunate and infuriating incident in the Queen Elizabeth National Park. A couple of tourists and the Ugandan driver with them were killed at around 1800hrs on the Katwe- Kabatooro murram road, by a small group of terrorists running away from our operations in Congo, as I had shared with you in a previous message.
It was a cowardly act on the part of the terrorists attacking innocent civilians and tragic for the couple who were newlyweds and visiting Uganda on their honeymoon. Of course, these terrorists will pay with their own wretched lives.
However, killing these wretched individuals will not bring back the lives of these wonderful friends of Uganda who had chosen our country for their honeymoon out of the 193 Countries of the world.
Our High Commission in the UK will reach out to their families and provide whatever support is necessary in this tragic situation.
More importantly, the UPDF, the Police, the UWA and Intelligences should ensure these mistakes do not happen again and that ADF is wiped out. The wiping out is moving very well. What needs to be done is to ensure that the remnants do not commit these atrocities.
That is why I congratulate, again, the Wanainchi, the Police and other agencies on preventing the bombing of Bunamwaya, Kayanja’s church and the churches in Kibibi, Butambala.
There were a few gaps in the handling of these remnants. UWA was guarding tourists once they were in the Park. However, apparently, the tourists were arriving and departing individually. It is this gap that they used. Secondly, the UPDF has been using one form of tracking these fugitive groups from Congo, Kufuata Nyayo- following their tracks (ekisinde, ekirari). There are more reliable ways of tracking, which we have discussed with the Army.
The terrorists will be defeated like Kony was defeated and the cattle rustlers that have been killing people in Karamoja and the surrounding districts or those that were cutting People with pangas (bijambiya) in Masaka.
May their souls rest in eternal peace.
Signed: Yoweri K. Museveni Gen. (Rtd)
