The fire brigade Police in Masaka became the target of the fury of a mob, which attacked them for failing to put out a fire that gutted a building in Masaka town. A fire gutted a building on Hobart Street on Wednesday morning, destroying property worth millions of shillings. Police arrived three hours later, sparking off more anger among rescuers and those who lost property. A group of policemen accompanied by the fire brigade officer, Richard Mudhungu, were pushed, pelted with sticks and stones and chased away from the scene of the fire, by the rowdy mob. The mob blamed the police fire brigade for failing to respond to the fire alarm swiftly. The Southern Regional Police Commander, Assuman Mugenyi, described the mob's action as irresponsible. He said the police fire brigade truck is in poor mechanical condition, making it impossible for police to put out the fire on time. Mugenyi however said the responsibility for fire fighting, equally lies with the municipal council authorities. // Cue in-We have a problem# Cue out-#fight fire. // But the Masaka municipality council speaker, Dennis Majwala, says the council is ill equipped to handle and manage fire disasters.
ISAAC MUGERA
Freelancer
