‘We have not killed anyone’- URA defends self over Yumbe chaos

By our reporter

Earlier today, there were some media reports indicating that over four people were shot dead following a protest against Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) operations by locals in Yumbe District.

The protest was sparked off by a URA operation against unregistered bodas bodas, in the event apprehending residents in the business.

The boda boda riders together with some youths in the area in retaliation started burning vehicles belonging to Non Governmental Organisations (NGO).

However, according to URA, there was a court case in Yumbe which URA was litigating but because of the anger around enforcement activities on unregistered motorcycles and smuggled rice, when the boda-boda cyclists sighted URA vehicles, they attempted to attack the URA team at the court and started throwing stones.

“This prompted our security teams to fire in the air to disperse the crowds. They managed to repulse the crowds at the court premises, all this in the presence of the RDC and DPC of Yumbe District. After being dispersed, the rioters regrouped, armed with arrows and stones, attacked our vehicle attached to Afoji station, smashed the wind screens and confiscated a key for one of the vehicles that had transported the legal team from Kampala,” URA started.

The authority also clarified that their enforcement officers didn’t injure or kill anyone during the chaos.

“However, our team managed to disperse them again without injuring anyone. Contrary to what is circulating on social media, that URA shot and killed 2 civilians, no one has been shot and no life has been lost. By the time the re-enforcement security from Arua Police Station and Bondo army barracks arrived, the rioters had cut off some roads, burnt 2 NGO vehicles and residences, vandalized the nearby hotels and were proceeding to burn RDCs home with the intention of killing his entire family. The good news is, that thanks to the security forces, the situation has been normalized,”