Gen. Katumba Wamala’s daughter, Brenda shot dead

A report coming from the Uganda media house has revealed that Gen Katumba Wamala’s daughter, Brenda has been confirmed dead

Her death came in just a few hours after an assassination attempt on the General’s life was made.

The car she was in was shot seven times.

Gen. Katumba Wamala has been an Uganda Chief of Defense Forces (CDF), and Transport Minister for years. He was shot in Kiasasi on Tuesday morning.

His daughter, Brenda Nantongo and their driver Haruna Kayondo have been confirmed dead in an assassination attempt on the General’s life. The car was shot seven times.

Reports have it that Brenda had recently returned from the United States and has not too long started working in Uganda. She was the last daughter of General Katumbala.

Miss Brenda Nantongo had just completed her studies in the USA. She had just graduated and had promptly returned home.

Few Things You Need To Know About Brenda Nantogo 

Here is Brenda Nantongo Image

From reports gathered lately, Brenda was a 32-year-old daughter of former and commander Gen Katumba

She is a Master degree holder in Public Health from Savanah University in Atlanta.

Brenda took up a job at the army hospital in Bombo, where she worked until her death yesterday.
She also attended Kabojja International School.

“Her father asked her to come back after her masters in the US,” a relative who preferred anonymity, said.

Nantogo is said to have been the darling of the family and had a special bond with her father.

She is the fourth of six siblings from the general’s family and she had been living with her parents in Bulabira, Wakiso District.

Ms Diana Katumba, Brenda’s elder sister, described her as one who “made home lively. She brought life at home. She was also very open. She would say something as blank as she liked.”

Diana had spoken to her sister in the early hours of Tuesday and she was to pick money to cater for some of the needs for their grandmother’s vigil before the gruesome incident.

“A very big gap has been left, we were six but now we are five,” she said.
Ms Brenda will be laid to rest on June 3 at 2 pm in Kikandwa in Mukono District.

It is reported that the shooting happened in Kisota —Kisaasi, a Kampala suburb on Tuesday morning.

This website has learnt that Gen Wamala has been rushed to hospital for treatment.

Wamala served as the commander of land forces in the UPDF from 2005 to 2013.

He also served as the Inspector General of Police (IGP) of the Uganda Police Force (UPF), the highest rank in that branch of Uganda’s government, from 2001 until 2005. Wamala was the first active UPDF soldier to serve as the head of the UPF.

Gen Wamala was an officer in the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA) when the National Resistance Army (NRA) defeated the UNLA in 1986.

He transitioned into the NRA without incident.

Between 1999 and 2000, he was a student at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Between 2000 and 2001, at the rank of major general, he commanded the UPDF forces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

He was appointed IGP in 2001, serving in that capacity until 2005.

He got his promotion to lieutenant general and given the title of commander of land forces, based at Bombo Military Barracks, making him one of the highest senior officers in the Ugandan military.

In his role as commander of the land forces, he was closely engaged in the peace-keeping mission that the UPDF performs in Somalia, commonly referred to as AMISOM.

On 23 May 2013, he was promoted to the rank of four-star general and appointed chief of defence forces.

Katumba holds a certificate in agriculture. In 2007, he graduated from Nkumba University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in international relations and diplomacy. He also holds a Master’s degree of Science degree in strategic leadership from the United States Army War College.

He has military qualifications from the following military schools: Uganda Military Academy, Tanzania Military Academy, a military academy in the Soviet Union, Nigerian Command and Staff College, United States Army Command and General Staff College, and United States Army War College.

Updates On Shooting of  General Katumba Wamala Failed Assination And Daughter Brenda’s Death

Police have carried out more investigations and they pored out bullet holes in the car’s windows and body and casings on the ground.

The private NTV Uganda television broadcast social media footage of Wamala speaking in hospital. Referring to his daughter, who was in the car with him, he said: “I have survived, we have lost Brenda… The bad guys have done it, but God has given me a second chance.”

Army spokeswoman Brigadier Flavia Byekwaso told Reuters: “There was a shooting involving him … he is hurt and he’s been taken to the hospital, his driver was killed.”

A government official said a local resident was also shot and wounded in the incident and was in the hospital.

Wamala once served as head of Uganda’s police, which over the years has been accused of human rights abuses by rights groups, including arbitrary arrests and torture of opposition activists. The police deny carrying out rights abuses.

There have been several unsolved assassinations and mysterious deaths of high profile officials in the east African country in recent years that have fuelled speculation about perpetrators and their motivations.

Victims have involved a lawmaker, a senior police officer, the country’s top public prosecutor, senior Muslim leaders and others. Nearly all were committed by gunmen on motorcycles.

The attempt on Wamala’s life took place in the same suburb in the capital where in 2017 gunmen on motorcycles sprayed bullets at a vehicle carrying a senior police officer. That police officer, Felix Kaweesa, was killed alongside his bodyguard and driver.

In 2019, the government installed a CCTV camera system on main roads in Kampala and other big towns to curb such high profile homicides and other major crimes.

But many Ugandans have complained the CCTV network has not helped police solve a lot of killings involving opposition activists and even ordinary Ugandans.

Former opposition MP Latif Ssebagala told reporters he hoped the incident would prompt investigators to look afresh at the unsolved killings.

“This is very unfortunate because when you see that even those who are guarded, even those who are in military attire are not feared, can be attacked, then that will explain that the entire country in terms of security is lacking,” he said.

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