UPDF soldier shoots Congolese national over illegal entry

Pulse Uganda has learned that the victim, who has been identified as Majwar Muhindo Kibwana, is a 26-year-old man and was shot when he crossed into Uganda through a porous border.

According to the Daily Monitor, the Kasese Deputy Resident District Commissioner, Maate Magwara, confirmed this incident on Monday, September 11, 2023, and said that the UPDF soldier had been arrested and is currently in police custody.

The UPDF spokesperson, Maj. Gen. Felix Kulayigye, also confirmed the incident in a telephone interview with this website and said that the errant soldier belongs to the army’s 5th battalion in Rusese, Kasese.

"It is true that a Congolese national was shot and injured. The suspect is currently under arrest, and investigations are ongoing to establish the facts. He belongs to the 5th battalion in Rusese, Kasese," Kulayigye told this website.

According to the Daily Monitor, Kibwana has reportedly been crossing the border frequently due to the shared ethnicity of the communities on both sides of the Uganda-DR Congo border and has been working as a casual laborer on the Ugandan side at the Mpondwe customs in Bwera, where he loads and offloads items from vehicles.

The shooting is one of a series of shootings done by security officers right from the time the deceased state minister for labor, Charles Okello Engola, was shot dead by his bodyguard. This was followed by another police officer shooting and killing an Indian national who was a money lender in Kampala.