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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
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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