Top DP MP Survives Gun Plot

By Our Reporters

Lutamaguzi Semakula, the only opposition MP in greater Luwero triangle area, is having sleepless nights fearing for his life. This comes after unidentified actors intensified efforts to harm him. Outspoken Lutamaguzi, who has lately been very outspoken against land grabbing in Nakaseke and other parts of Luwero Triangle, on Wednesday gave a lift to two strangers as he entered Makerere University through the Sir Apollo Kaggwa road gate.

The two strangers carried a black traveler’s bag and being someone who has always lived and operated in the Makerere area, Lutamaguzi duly accepted their request for a lift to Freedom Square as Makerere allows no boda bodas condemning pedestrians to walking long distances. According to sources close to the matter, the talkative MP drove up to Social Sciences faculty at the small parking area where he dropped the two men.

As he turned to reverse, he realized they had left their bag in the back seat. He hooted and they ignored it until he drove towards them. They reluctantly agreed to pick their luggage which Lutamaguzi insisted must be checked. On checking, they discovered it contained a small revolver and bullets. We spoke to Lutamaguzi who confirmed our source’s narrative and said the men apologized saying they had had a long day and were now full of fatigue which caused them to forget.

“They told me we are security operatives who have been on operation for many days and we are now very tired.”

This wouldn’t have shocked him that much if it wasn’t coming on the heels of equally strange happenings the MP had endured prior. Days earlier, he gave a lift to somebody he knew as an opinion leader from Nakaseke who in the course of the journey switched his drink and replaced it with one that had been laced with poison.

On the drink being examined, Lutamaguzi’s fears were confirmed as it was confirmed to contained toxic substances. The same MP has previously been blackmailed by strange people claiming to be from his constituency only to turn round demanding for ransom money from him.

The background to all this is that the DP diehard remains among the very few MPs from Luwero triangle area who remain very outspoken against land grabbing in the area. There was a plot to grab public land in Bukalasa Luwero district which Lutamaguzi resisted along with Luwero woman MP Lillian Nakate who was later silenced when her ruling NRM party made her chairperson for Physical planning committee which oversees the lucrative sector of road construction among others.

Katikamu North MP Sembatya was cowed because of the election petition he is facing. The same applies to Katikamu South’s Ibrahim Byandala who is facing criminal charges in Anti-Corruption court over Katosi saga. Bamunanika’s JC Muyingo can equally not defend the poor facing land evictions because he is a minister.

This has made fearless Lutamaguzi to become the voice for all poor people facing land evictions in both Luwero and Nakaseke. Sometime back over 100 Luwero residents stormed his office in Parliament and he led them to the speaker’s office.

His relentless protests prompted the Bamugemereire land commission of inquiry to visit Nakaseke and many hitherto untouchable land grabbers were exposed in hearing sessions where Lutamaguzi’s whistle blowing was exonerated. Shortly after, Lutamaguzi got IGP Kayihura and lands minister Parcis Namuganza to drive to Nakaseke where they addressed rallies assuring peasants no one would evict them from their land.

He is also among those outspoken MPs from Buganda that State Operatives have been calling urging them to stop mobilizing peasants to reject changes in land ownership in Article 26 of the Constitution as proposed by the executive.

This Lutamaguzi story comes days after Mukono MP Betty Nambooze posted on her facebook page narrating how she survived being assassinated by gunmen who sneaked into her residence in the dead of the night. Also a Nkoba Zambogo activist, Lutamaguzi is also the only openly opposition MP in the entire Luwero triangle area spanning several Buganda districts.