URA enforcement officer shoots, injures one in Arua

By Dramadri Federick

One person has been shot and injured by a Uganda Revenue Authority URA enforcement officer in Arua district in an operation to impound a motorcycle without license plates.
The gunshot victim is identified as 21 year old Philliam Anguni, a resident of Nyio Parish Vurra Sub county Arua district. He is currently nursing injuries at Arua regional referral hospital after the bullet passed through his thigh and hit the fuel reservoir tank, following an encounter with URA enforcement officers attached to Padea Customs in Zombo district.
Available information shows that the enforcement officers were from Arua for fuel, but one of the officers jumped off the vehicle and shot the victim near Opia health center III following a running battle for over 500 meters. The victim was by then spotted riding on a numberless motorcycle. The officer however returned and sped off after shooting the victim.
Arua district vice Chairperson Cosmas Ayikobua, who was equally riding on a motorcycle from a funeral service accused the officers of recklessness.
“The speed was terrible otherwise I was going to be knocked dead, they splashed mud on me from the head to the feet. Secondly my leg that I broke during an earlier accident has also been affected because I had to jump off the road by the time these people were recklessly driving. The worry is the wounds and the bone that was broken that are healing might be disorganized and as I walk I feel a lot of pain though I have not gone for x-ray checkup”, he said.
The district chairperson of Arua district Alfred Okuonzi condemned the act and urged URA to devise viable means of tax collection.
“I personally condemn this act in the strongest terms possible. What they did was not good, I want to say here that the errant officer should be brought to book and the law has to take its course. Yes we are all paying taxes but there should be better ways to collect revenue from the people. The motives of the shooting at this boy is not clear because after shooting him they drove off. We would clearly understand if they had stopped and picked the motorcycle”, he said.
Meanwhile, the URA West Nile branch Manager Ivan Kakaire says they are in contact with the relatives of the relatives of the victim.
“I sent a team headed by the Arua team to go and visit the person to assess the situation to talk to him to see what the problem is and am sure they went there it’s a very regrettable incidence. Even to him the patient I can only apologise to him but we are going to coordinate with him as a victim and we had agreed that we meet the chairman LC5 for a neutral ground and will bring the team of Padea Customs with them where they are found guilty we shall owe and we shall not run away from it”, he said.

COVER PHOTO: The victim, Philliam Angoni nursing bullet wounds at Arua regional referral hospital. Photo by Federick Dramadri.