State Minister for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Aidah Nantaba on Sunday afternoon reportedly survived an assassination attempt while returning from Kayunga to Kampala.
It is ‘believed’ gunmen riding on a motorbike opened fire on her official car but they were however pursued by police. One was shot dead while the other is on the loose.
Posting on her social media after the terrible incident, the Kayunga District Women MP said she is still traumatized.
“God is great, I survived death from nasty assailants who opened fire on my car around Nagalama! Am still traumatized but praising God for the survival,” she said.
However, the ‘assassination attempt’ has come under scrutiny from several Ugandans who have taken to social media to ask the tough questions.
One of them is Doctor Daniel Tumwine, who has questioned why there are two versions of the attempt on the minister’s life – the police version and the version by the Minster herself.
He wrote:
Ok.
Let’s for once actually believe the official version of events…
Let’s for one time ignore the fact that the guys who tried to “assassinate” the lady forgot their hoodies, kept their motorbikes number plate on, and carried their driver’s licenses and national IDs.
Let’s even assume the bikers threw away their weapons in a swamp, movie style.
This is what we are being told so far (please correct me if I’m wrong)
1) Nantaba is driving her official car alone. She spots bikers following her and gets suspicious
2) Despite this suspicion, she stops to buy fruits at an unnamed market stall.
3) Instead of shooting her, the would-be assassins walk to her and ask her for directions
4) When she eventually reaches Nagalama she goes to police to report suspicious movement by the bikers
5) Police chase the bikers, grab one and in a shootout melee in a populated village, he is shot as he ran away.
6) A fully fledged canine unit (that just happens to be in Nagalama) is sniffing out the other suspect…
But this is why I have failed to sleep:
1) You mean to tell me there are no police stations between Sezibwa Bridge and Nagalama 40km away?
2) You mean to tell me Nantaba’s car failed to outsprint and shake off a bike for 40km but a police Nissan patrol chased them and caught them in a matter of seconds?
3) Which roadside fruit stall is this between Sezibwa Bridge and Nagalama? I can assure you as a person who plies that route the first one is at Kalagi in Mukono District.
4) And why would a person being chased stop to buy fruits?
5) So the bikers ignored bodas, passengers, petrol station attendants to walk up to a government vehicle labelled “CM” to ask for directions to a town on the road?
6) What was the minister’s guard doing if suspicions were present for 40km?
7) What did the witness on NBS really see? Was the biker caught alive, handcuffed and later executed?
8.) Why did Nantaba go to her FB page and (her or her representative) write that she was shot at and her car bullet-riddled…
9) These canine dogs (I’m still impressed Nagalama has a fully-fledged canine unit), what exactly are they sniffing at? Did the second biker who ran away leave a handkerchief? Did his shoe fall off? What are they sniffing for exactly in a town that is full of strangers?
Daniel Tumwine is a Paediatrician, Team Leader Children’s Clinic Naalya
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