Unless you have been under a rock, you must have already heard about the trending story of a certain Mathew Kanyamunyu who is alleged to have shot and killed Kenneth Akena for scratching his car. Ofcourse, I understand why this story has caused a splash in the media and among the public. It is confusing for someone to imagine that anyone would get shot for something as flimsy as a simple scratch on a car. It is even more confusing to imagine how someone would sneak into such a fairly secure establishment with a firearm. And when the suspect is believed to be ‘powerful’, ‘untouchable’ and ‘well connected’, this is enough to throw people into more rage. Quite understandably, people are angry and are scared that the suspect, Mathew Kanyamunyu will get off the hook easily like many others have done before him.
The problem with this case is that no one can really tell what happened. Apparently Kenneth in his last moments mentioned that Kanyamunyu, the alleged shooter and the man who rushed him to hospital to save his life was the same person who had pulled the trigger. The suspect Mon the other hand, claims it was a drive-by shooting which was attempted at his girlfriend who was also in the car. Apparently Kenneth Akena was only unlucky to be around at that time. As if a movie. Two contrasting accounts of what happened and more reasons to debate.
Gosh, you do not want to be on social media when high profile cases like these are swung into the media. Everyone with a smartphone will abandon everything they are doing that day to assume they are lawyers and start with opinions. Some opinions are well-founded and others are straight out of a rubbish pit. It is what happens when more people can afford MB’z nowdays. The burning desire to comment and spew all kinds of nonsense is what you find on these social media platforms.
From what I have observed during the past week, many people must have witnessed what happened. All of a sudden, everyone knows what went down. There are so many versions of what went down that it is hard to know what happened. With the little evidence that has been gathered, it is hard to draw a conclusive picture of what really happened, let alone pass off Kanyamunyu as the killer. Chaps on Whatsapp, Facebook and Twitter have thrown so much abuse yet details remain scanty. It is a shame that people have reduced this incident to an issue of tribe. That this Kanyamunyu guy killed Akena because he was an Acholi. Really??
If Kanyumunyu was the killer, I pray justice is served. No one deserves to die the way Kenneth Akena did and may his soul rest in eternal peace. As much as this situation is bound to evoke lots of emotions, let uss try to refrain from baseless accusations with no facts. There is this annoying thing about Ugandans where they want to show their friend who has the latest news about something. They share whichever garbage is thrown before them. Be mindful people. There are no awards given to whoever shares the latest news about death, scandal and the like. Watch how you use social media.
Otherwise, have a great and safe weekend everyone.
