EDITOR
Kabale Municipality Member of Parliament, Hon. Nicholas Thaddeus Kamara, has expressed his views on President Museveni’s recent directive to the police not to grant bond to suspects accused of stealing property in villages.
Hon. Kamara addressed the issue on Friday, January 3, 2025, during the funeral service of the late Loyce Atwine, who succumbed to liver cancer. Atwine was the wife of Richard Muhanguzi, a former aspirant for the Kabale Municipality mayoral seat. The service was held at All Saints Church in Kabale.
During his remarks, Kamara highlighted a recent incident involving the Bank of Uganda, which lost $17 million (approximately 60 billion Ugandan shillings) to theft. He noted that the individual responsible for the theft has not been arrested, despite some of the stolen funds being traced to Japan and England. The funds remain unrecovered.
Kamara criticized the president’s directive, calling attention to the double standards in handling theft cases. He argued that while police bonds are denied to petty thieves in villages, individuals involved in the large-scale theft of public funds often escape accountability. He stressed that such stolen resources could instead be invested in the health sector to address pressing issues, such as procuring quality medication and ensuring health centers are stocked with unexpired drugs.
His comments followed concerns raised by Peter Niwagaba, a prominent businessman in Kabale, about the alarming rise of drug shops selling expired medications. Niwagaba revealed that some vendors remove expiration labels before selling the drugs to unsuspecting customers.
The funeral service also featured moving tributes from family and friends, who described Loyce Atwine as a loving, caring, and hardworking parent. Her husband, Richard Muhanguzi, shared a heartfelt reflection on their 19 years of marriage, expressing profound sorrow over her untimely passing at the age of 42.
