Elderly people in Lwengo are fleeing their houses to avoid machete attackers.
According to Naluwu, some older persons have been carried away by relatives who reside outside the Lwengo district, while some who live in isolated dwellings have relocated to places where they feel safer.
Following threats of violence by unknown intruders, some elderly people in the Lwengo area have evacuated their houses. At least seven homes have been abandoned in Kyoko, Mirembe, and Kaganda villages in Kingo sub-county, Lwengo district, due to apparent terror created by machete-wielding assailants who have slashed numerous individuals in recent days.
After the intruders left notes on their walls threatening to strike at any time, the owners of the residences fled for their lives. According to Robina Naluwu, a Kaganda parish councillor, recent killings, which appear to mostly target elderly people, have instilled dread among locals, causing some to abandon their homes.
According to Naluwu, some older persons have been carried away by relatives who reside outside the Lwengo district, while some who live in isolated dwellings have relocated to places where they feel safer.
Despite the increased security presence in the neighborhood, she says people are still fearful, especially when they awoke on Monday to find flyers and threatening words sprayed on their walls.
Because of security worries, Gerald Kasumba, 79, of Mirembe village, and his wife Christine Nakabogere, 69, have abandoned their house. The couple is presently spending their nights in a neighboring house, where they can congregate and feel secure.
Kasumba said that they only return to their house in the morning and that this has now become a habit for them till the situation improves.
Due to the re-operationalization of night patrols in their regions as an emergency response to the present crisis, Kyoko Village Defense Secretary Stephen Ssebunya said they are now asking people to remain calm.
Ssebunya claims that village security teams have been established to supplement police night patrols in order to protect the region and restore people’ trust.
According to Muhammad Nsubuga, the Greater Masaka Regional Police Spokesperson, they have identified blackspots where security deployment has been enhanced. He claims that their investigations have yielded definite leads, and that the situation will soon return to normal. Thirteen of the thirty suspected killings in the broader Masaka sub-region took place in the Lwengo area.
