Clearing and Forwarding agents march with the casket containing the
remains of their colleague, Agaba Obed Kapere on Malaba streets. Photo
by Joseph Omollo
Agaba Obed Kapere, 32, an employee of Haraka Clearing and Forwarders is
said to have died last Saturday following an assault by Kenyan security
officers in Mombasa port
Malaba.
Police
in the border town of Malaba Friday deployed heavily to avert a planned
protest by clearing agents over the death of their colleague.
Agaba
Obed Kapere, 32, an employee of Haraka Clearing and Forwarders is said
to have died last Saturday following an assault by Kenyan security
officers in Mombasa port.
The deceased was operating in Malaba border town before he relocated to Mombasa two months ago.
His
body was received by relatives and friends at the border at around
7:30am on Friday and taken to St Stephen Church of Uganda for a requiem
mass.
A workmate and close friend, Apollo Tera told mourners that on
the fateful day, he had lunch with the deceased. After they had parted
ways, he received a phone call from a strange number telling him about
his demise.
‘’I was told that Obed developed a misunderstanding
with a bar owner who called security officials. They had an argument and
the security guys assaulted him. He had an injury on the neck and the
left knee. I rushed to hospital where he had been taken but only to find
him dead,’’ Tera told the media in Malaba.
Soon after the information about Obed’s death reached Malaba, his colleagues mobilised to hold a demonstration.
The
officer in charge of Malaba police station Prince Barnabas Tusingwire
said they managed to contain the situation, adding that the cause of
Obed’s death is not yet known.
‘’We can’t say he was killed until we
get the postmortem report. There was a planned demonstration but we have
managed to contain it,’’ Tusingwire said.
After their
demonstration was foiled, clearing and forwarding agents under their
umbrella body "Uganda Clearing Industry and Forwarding Association"
[UCIFA] demanded for the abolition of single custom trade saying that it
has rendered some of them jobless and endangered their lives when they
are in Mombasa.
They claim that since the introduction of the single
custom trade, they have so far lost seven Ugandan clearing agents in
Mombasa.
Malaba Town Council LCIII Chairperson, Mr Asa Kalami
Orimodi said: “it’s a pity that Malaba residents have not only lost
business and employment but also lives.”
‘’If we are paying the prize
of joining East African Community, then we need to conduct a referendum
on whether Ugandans really should remain in the regional bloc. We
cannot continue being hospitable to our tormentors,’’ Mr Kalami said.
CREDIT: DAILY MONITOR
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