Africa-Press – Uganda. The attack on Lhubirira Secondary School last Friday night was one brutal attack on innocent lives that is hard to understand.
The government and the army have tried to reassure the nation that they are looking hard into the matter and shall give us answers. Both the Chief of Defence Forces, Gen Wilson Mbadi and the commander of the Land Forces, Lt Gen Kayanja Muhanga of UPDF, rushed to the scene early on Saturday morning to meet with Maj Gen Dick Olum, Commander of UPDF Mountain Division and Operation Shujaa and oversee the operations.
The Minister of Education Ms Janet Museveni also dispatched the State Minister for Higher Education Mr Chrysostom Muyingo, and the ministry’s permanent secretary, Ms Ketty Lamaro, to the area on Saturday. This raises hope that the government is taking this attack seriously and trying to get to the bottom of it.
Questions abound however, on how the security forces in the country could not have had intelligence about the attack.
As reported by Sunday Monitor edition of June 18, in the cover story, the area where the school is found is a few kilometres close to the border between Uganda and DRC.
The area, therefore, has soldiers conducting operations and a significant security presence in and around border areas. How this could happen in their presence is a question the residents especially are trying to understand. A bigger question, however, arises over how the citizens of Uganda have reacted to this tragedy.
In the last few months, we have seen social media awash with anger and questions over the killing of certain personalities. We have seen them debate endlessly and raise concerns about the country’s budget. All these deserve such an outcry. However the noise by the public over the killings in Lubhiriha seems a little muted.
Perhaps the citizens should also ask themselves whether they are as horrified as they should be. Within only two days of the attack, most Ugandans seem to have “moved on” to something else.
We must ask hard questions. Is this the case because the attack was in a school far removed from more bustling districts and towns? Did any church on Sunday hold prayers for the residents of Lhubirira, especially those who have lost loved ones? Are people sympathetic but not outraged because the incident is far removed from them? What would the reaction have been if this attack was in a well-known and perhaps popular school? Shouldn’t we be asking more questions?
As a nation (both the government and citizens), we must recognise this act for what it was and truly empathise with our sisters and brothers in Lhubiriha. Let us continue to ask questions and find ways to condole with the affected, after all whatever happens in one corner of the country affects each of us in one way or another.
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