Col. Charles Engola (rtd)
The minister of State for Labour, Employment and Industrial Relations, in Uganda, Col Charles Okello Engola (rtd), has been shot dead by his bodyguard, a day after the world celebrate workers day over unpaid salaries.
Engola, who was the Deputy Minister for Gender and Labour, was shot dead on Tuesday, May 2, 2023 at his home in a Kampala suburb.
Police spokesperson, Fred Enaga, disclosed that the minister was shot at his residence in Kyanja, at close range, while entering his vehicle to go to work.
Enaga identified the bodyguard as Private Wilson Sabiti.
The police said Sabiti fled from the scene to the trading centre at Kyanja, Ring Road, where he also shot himself dead.
Enaga said a team of detectives was dispatched to the crime scene for further investigations to establish the motive of the shooting.
The motive was not immediately clear, but the local press said there had been an apparent dispute over the guard’s wages
Witnesses claim that the soldier was yelling that he had not been paid for a long time despite working for a minister,” the online newspaper NilePost reported.
The incident is likely to create shockwaves in a country where other high-profile officials have been killed in gun attacks over the years.
In 2021, a former army chief in Uganda was wounded and his daughter killed when gunmen shot at their vehicle in Kampala.
