By Andrew Irumba
Commotion engulfed Bunyangabu District Local Government headquarters on Wednesday evening after an angry Councillor drew a gun during a heated Council meeting, which forced district staff, the Speaker and other Councilors to flee for their dear lives.
Denis Nkwasibwe, who is not known to be security operative, but is the Councillor for Rwimi town council, shocked fellow Councillors, journalists, district workers and others who were attending the Council meeting when he drew a pistol and started pointing it at fellow Councillors he didn’t agree with, especially the Speaker, Moses Ikagobya
Nkwasibwe’s mood of threatening violence arose after fellow Councillors rejected a report he and the Select Committee had compiled about the staff of Bunyangabu district, the Speaker and other Councillors, alleging that they had failed to account for government funds amounting to over Shs100m.
The Select Committee was investigating the expenditure of government funds extended to the district for the Agriled project. The report was read by the chairman of the Select Committee Remigious Turyahebwa and it was disputed by Hussein Kato, the Councillor Rwimi Sub-county and seconded by Sulait Tusiime.
Council realised that the alleged misappropriated money was not amounting to Shs5m as alleged and the allegations had no documentary or other credible evidence to back them up.
The Councillors thus carried a decision that the report be ignored until professional accountants and auditors are hired to undertake a thoroughly auditing of the project under review.
They argued that the Select Committee that had compiled the report was not competent enough to undertake such a sensitive task, that involves the careers and lives of very many people and the allegations in the report had legal implications.
Apart from Nakwasibwe, other members on the Select Committee that compiled that controversial report were: Turyahebwa Remigius, Francis Kasigazi, Lilian Katutu and Robert Alinaitwe.
But their decision did not go down well with Nkwasibwe, who immediately went into irate mode, got up and started hurling insults at fellow Councillors and the Speaker.
Before long he pulled out a pistol and threatened to teach a lesson whoever didn’t take him seriously, forcing many people to duck for cover and others to flee the Council sitting.
Fearing for his life and the lives of others present, the district Speaker ordered Nkwasibwe to move out with his gun but he refused, which prompted other Councillors to move out, fearing what could happen in case he pulled the trigger.
Speaker Ikagobya also quickly fled the Council Hall, stating that he didn’t know some Councillors are armed and that he could not continue presiding over Council with a charged and armed member, who had put the lives of others at a threat.
