Assassin Of Ugandan Labor Minister Had Issues With Govt

Nairobi-Kenya: Retired Colonel, Charles Okello Engola, the Ugandan State Minister for Labor, Employment and Industrial Relations was gunned down this morning from his home, about 11km, north of Metropolitan Kampala City. The assassin, a PDF army officer who was a member of his security detail, complained of non-payment of his salary for six months before also shooting himself dead. According to eyewitnesses he cited several issues he had with the ruling NRM government that has consistently held power for the last 37 years.

The development has since been interpreted by regional security analysts as a signal of the depth of discontent and frustrations among members of the Ugandan security agencies that can lead to more fatal incidents.

“It renders the lives of government officials at a high risk and also highlights the divisions between the elite army forces, the Special Forces Command (SFC) who are better facilitated than those in the regular national army,” said David Othieno, the executive director of the Nairobi Center for Strategic studies.

The minister who died instantly was shot Tuesday morning as he prepared to leave for work. After which the assassin also killed himself in a distance of about one kilometer from the minister’s home. According to eyewitnesses, the culprit complained of non-payment for his labor for six months. This was a day after Uganda joined the rest of the world to mark the World Labor Day on May 1, 2023. Eyewitness said the assassin explained to the people around that he had no problem with anyone but only had it with the government. On the occasion to mark Labor Day, a Presidential Senior Advisor, Sam Engola, who hails from the same place as the deceased minister and shares a similar name (Engola) had called on the nation to support President Museveni’s son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba for his presidential bid as this will foster the continuity of the ruling NRM party and the protection of its supporters from victimization.

According to analysts Uganda risks similar problems as Sudan currently, emanating from the varying negative attitudes brewing in its national army. Otheino said if it’s true as alleged that members of the regular army go for months without payment, which is not the case with those belonging to the SFC, this will certainly spark off a more bloody confrontation between these two forces. “The SFC unit is perceived as a privately created special unit by the president’s son, Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba himself, to protect the family interests and pursue the Museveni/Kagame regional Hima/Tutsi Dynasty project,” he said.

Word is going round within Uganda of plans for a ‘fake’ coup d’état led by Gen Muhoozi to overthrow his father and assume national leadership without first necessarily going through an election.

“This way, his father and other regime members are assured of protection from victimization,” he said.

For the already disillusioned regular soldiers to see senior government officials strategically involved in the Muhoozi presidential project, they sense a hopeless future that is worse than death.