Unknown gunmen kill Ugandan minister’s daughter

Unknown gunmen have killed the daughter of Uganda’s Transport Minister Gen Katumba Wamala and wounding his driver in an attempted assassination on Monday, an army spokeswoman and local media reports said.

The two were in the vehicle with the minister when it was sprayed with bullets from the sides and front by gunmen riding in motorcycles.

Images circulating on social media showed Wamala with his mouth open, in apparent distress beside the car and his light-colored trousers splattered with blood. Social media images also showed bullet holes in a car window and casings on the ground.

However, Army Spokesman Brig-Gen Flavia Byekeaso says security forces have taken interest in a number of phone calls that seem to be related to planning the attempted assassination of the transport minister.

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There have been several unsolved assassinations and mysterious deaths of high-profile officials in the East African country in recent years that have fuelled speculation about perpetrators and their motivations.

Victims have involved a lawmaker, a senior police officer, the country’s top public prosecutor, senior Muslim leaders, and others. Nearly all were committed by gunmen on motorcycles.

Wamala hails from the Baganda, the country’s largest ethnic group. Shortly before the attack, Wamala told his followers on Twitter: “I wish you a month of Happiness, Success, Peace, Prosperity, Good Health, and Wealth.”