By Andrew Irumba
Kampala: The Uganda police is hunting for goons who kidnapped a journalist identified as Simon Akena aka Kenny, whom they strangled and later dumped his lifeless body at the shores of Lake Victoria in Katabi, Entebbe Municipality.
Akena, who was a journalist running a blog called safyrez.blogspot.com, went missing on Saturday September 14, 2019 after disappearing from Nexus Bar in Najeera at night.
His phones went off, which raised suspicion among his family members because it was so unusual. A manhunt was thereafter launched, with relatives and friends posting Akena’s pictures all over social media, begging whoever knew his whereabouts to contact them.
The hunt for Akena was however futile until Wednesday evening when his body was recovered in Katabi.
Akena’s friends have since been pouring condolence messages on social media following his demise. Some of them wrote thus;
Prince Isaac Mulindwa; This man Simon Akena was also found dead this evening in Katabi. He was a practicing Journalist.
Another person of my age trying to figure out life and design a future for them and their family, another life that has not been celebrated enough, another Ugandan who will become a statistic! We need a real conversation about the security of this nation, we need to check the most fierce part of our selves and summon all our energies to this conversation, we need to look power into the eyes and ask some tough questions.
We cannot keep disappearing and be found dead again and again, we need some answers and we must get those answers. I believe as Ugandans that we pay a select group of people led by the Executive to provide security for each and every Ugandan, they must have answers for why we are being killed and are living in fear that maybe just maybe I’ll be next. We can’t just write another “rest in peace”
Joseph Kizito; “Apparently our Akena Odur Simon has been found dead.
Magera Steven, Andrew Katumba, Richard H Mutebi, Joseph Rwabose, Bunjo Mathias..”
David Kisegerwa; “It’s ab-sad to hear that our brother Simon Akena who went missing on Saturday that he’s dead.”
Eddie Ssemakula: “It’s easy to read newspaper headlines about “another killing.”
It’s different when news arrives that one you knew, was strangled, left dead on Lake Victoria’s shores. Symon Kenny – we mourn
Relatives reveal that tey have been informed that Police picked the body up and took it to the Mulago KCCA mortuary, where a postmortem report indicate that Akena was strangled before he was dumped in the lake.
It is however not yet clear why Akena was kidnapped and murdered and that the motive of his murderers was.
But it should noted that cases of kidnap and murder are very rampant in Uganda of late. A few weeks ago social Maria Nagirinya and her driver Ronald Kitayimbwa were kidnapped, tortured and murdered by unknown people, who later dumped their bodies in Mukono district.
Prior to that, several women from various parts of the country among them Susan Magara had been kidnapped, raped, tortured and murdered.
