On Thursday, 19 December, 2024, the RedPepper (online) published a News article titled “BEATING, SHOOTING…Ssembabule Residents Live in Fear of Rogue Diplomat, Petition DPP”.
Amongst other matters, this publication reported that Mr. Ninsiima Robert Mugimba is a well-known untouchable person in Lugusulu, Ssembabule District where he continuously commits many felonious offences and none has ever been prosecuted in courts of law.
The story was based on a petition by alleged victims sent to The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) dated 28 June, 2022.
However, further investigations by RedPepper have revealed that the cases mentioned are old and were settled amicably.
One of the incidences reported about is that of 14th December, 2020 during the NRM primaries campaigns, where it was alleged that Mugimba while exchanging words with a one Kashaija Hannington in the town of Lugusulu-Ssembabule over different political camps, pulled out a pistol and shot Kasheija’s leg. A police case was opened vide Ssembabule CRB 568/2020.
This publication conducted interviews with five witnesses from Kyemambo and Mussi villages present on that day and it has been established that indeed Mugimba was caught up in clashes between rival rowdy political camps on that day.
Sensing danger, Mugimba reportedly shot in the air using his licensed pistol to warn and disperse the rowdy youth.
Unfortunately a stray bullet hit a pole and deflected—only to injure Hannington Kashaija who was not part of the fighting groups.
We have established that Mugimba took responsibility to rush him to the hospital and managed to clear all his medical bills at Kisubi hospital totaling about sh3m until he fully recovered.
A public reconciliation meeting was also organized on 26 December, 2020; chaired by the local leaders in relation to the injury.
Following the guidance by the Chairperson Local Council one of Mussi Village, it was agreed that Mugimba pays damages to Kashaija.
The Parties reportedly agreed to amicably settle all the claims in the police case Ssembabule CRB No 568 OF 2020 and an MoU was signed to that effect dated 28th December, 2020.
Kashaija proceeded to withdraw the case.
On top of clearing his medical expenses, Mugimba also paid sh10m to Kashaija as compensation.
“That is an old matter and it was settled. I am not complaining at all. The injury recovered and I am now doing my duties normally,” Kashaija told this publication when he was contacted.
This publication also reported about other cases (POLICE REF. NO 05/07/06/2022, SD REF/06/09/07/2022, SD REF 05/29/06/ 2020 & SD REF 10/31/12/2019) which all rotate around cattle trespasses to each other’s land.
We are told to avoid further conflicts and keep peace with provocative neighbours, Mugimba had to abandon the farm he had leased and decided to relocate the cattle.
He also made peace with elders over the same issues.
“While I understand the desire to revisit past issues, I can confirm these cases were settled fairly and amicably. I’m concerned about the motivations behind their resurgence,” Mugimba wondered when contacted for a comment.
“I wish to categorically state that they [allegations] are frivolous, flippant, glib, waggish and contemptuous,” he added.
This publication has also reliably learnt that Mugimba is a licensed gun (pistol) holder.
We obtained this information from Kira Road Police (where it was issued from).
“His [Mugimba] gun license was last renewed in February, 2023,” a police officer at Kira Road told us on condition of anonymity because he is not allowed to speak to the press.
This publication also made other allegations about Mugimba’s family being unhappy with him because of his alleged closeness to some female pals—an allegation we could not independently verify. We have however established that the said pals are happily married and Mugimba has no idea about their private lives.
“Honestly as human being we all have weaknesses but Mr.Mugimba is a good man. He doesn’t need us, we need him. He has bought and donated land for the church, he has always united the youth through sponsoring football tournaments. All in all he has been involved in all our community social and economic development programs,” said one of the area leaders we interviewed.
Mr. Mugimba is a seasoned diplomat and philanthropist who has served in the Foreign Service with distinction.
EDITOR: RedPepper would like to extend our sincerest apologies for the first article published on 19 December, 2024 that portrayed Mr.Mugimba in a negative light. We understand that the article caused inconvenience, embarrassment, and distress.
Upon reviewing the article, we realized that it fell short of our journalistic standards. We should have been more thorough in our research and more sensitive in our presentation.
Please accept our apologies for any harm or offense caused. We value our readers’ trust and respect, and we regret any instance where we may have compromised that.
We are taking immediate action to rectify the situation and prevent similar incidents in the future. If you would like to discuss this further or provide any additional context, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Once again, we offer our sincerest apologies for the harm caused.
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