By Andrew Irumba
Juba: Two Ugandan teachers have been confirmed to have been murdered in South Sudan after allegedly being shot dead by South Sudanese fighters on Sunday afternoon.
The deceased have been identified as Charles Kule Mitsagharu and Willis Binsiima, residents of Kasese and Bushenyi districts respectively. They were teachers at Hope and Resurrection Secondary School in Atiaba Western Lakes State of South Sudan. Family sources of the deceased reveal that at the time of the shooting, duo, who were driving in a Land Cruiser with South Sudan registration number SSD 912R, had gone pick up their head teacher Anthony Mading from Rumbek ,where he stays with his family using the school Land Cruiser.
It is said that the deceased were intercepted by their assailants at Tikic, where they were shot dead, before the killers fled with their belongings. Sources reveal that the assailants also brutalized three women who were traveling with the deceased in the same vehicle. Sources revealed that the murder was meant to avenge the death of a South Sudanese girl who was knocked dead by a vehicle being driven by non-citizens. Engineer Laura Kabugho Masereka, an in-law of one of the deceased, confirmed the death of Mitsagharu and his colleague Binsiima. She said efforts were underway to repatriate their bodies for burial in Uganda. “We have lost Charles. Such a friendly man. It’s unfortunate we are now working on repatriating the body so that we bury him,” said Masereka.
Before their travel to South Sudan, Binsiima was teaching at Masheruka Girls Secondary while Mitsagharu had taught in several schools in Kasese including Rwenzori High School, Saad Memorial SS and St. John Evangelist Seminary. The Ugandan embassy in South Sudan is yet to comment on the incident and the South Sudanese government hasn’t issued a statement about this gruesome attack too.
