By Nanteza Ruth Walusimbi
NAMUTUMBA
Shock gripped residents of Igulamubiri Village, Buwaga Parish, Bulange Sub County in Namutumba District on Tuesday night, the 24th of February 2026 after URA Anti-Smuggling Unit officers shot a one Ashraf Muyinda dead and injured Abdallah Ntoogo while tracing smugglers.
According to locals, URA officers surrounded the village in the night claiming they were looking for smugglers who were traveling in a vehicle whose Registration Number wasn’t established which the residents mistook for thieves and directed them. This prompted them to join the URA officers in the search and they started drumming, waking up those who were already asleep.
With the concerted efforts, some suspects were arrested but due to the scuffle caused by the residents who wanted to take the law into their hands through mob justice, URA officers were forced to fire bullets in the air to disperse the crowds only for Muyinda to lose his life.
It was after this confusion that the locals later realized that URA officers were actually looking for smugglers, not thieves giving them sleepless nights.
The Chairperson LC3 Bulange sub-county, Wandera Musolin, condemned the high-handedness exhibited by Uganda Revenue Authority officers during their operation.
While speaking to this publication, on Wednesday morning, Namutumba RDC, Aggrey Frederick confirmed the incident and said Police in Namutumba later transferred the body to Namutumba Hospital Morgue as investigations continue.
By the time of publishing this story, police was yet to issue a detailed statement about the incident.
