HERBERT ZZIWA
Twenty four families of police officers at Nsambya police barracks are now homeless after a fire on Friday razed their housing facility.
The police fire department took close to two hours to condense the fire which left property worth millions of shillings destroyed and one child in critical conditions.
Among those affected is Afande Joseph Murialo,who has been staying in the structure with his two wives and four children.
“I had just returned from work at Naguru, and as I entered my room, I saw fire coming from the room of my neighbour who was outside washing her clothes. I jumped out barefooted and all my property including a Television set, bicycle and other household items have been destroyed in the fire,” Murialo narrated.
“We need help from police otherwise life is now hard for us. We are working for government so they have build for us good houses”. He added.
Another police officer who preferred anonymity faulted the police for neglecting the welfare of the police officers in barracks.
“How can you explain the presence of these iron sheet structures in a police barracks in Kampala when this government has been in power for 30 years. Now I have lost my pass port, property and two million shillings which I had kept for my brother,”he added.
The Chief Fire Officer Joseph Mugisa attributed the cause of fire to sparks from an electric cooking stove, adding that there were many electronic coils discovered in the razed structure.
“You cannot rule out illegal power connection and we are recommending the discontinuation of any form of cooking in such a residential structure because cooking makes it highly vulnerable to a fire out break any time. We thank God that no life was lost although police personnel lost their property,” Mugisa noted.
