Assailants armed with iron bars beat Ssentongo as he was on
his way to work in Nantabuliriwa in Mukono district, central
5 a.m., local journalists and the Ugandan Human Rights
Journalist Network reported. The assailants apparently dragged him into a
nearby cassava field.
Ssentongo, 29, died of his injuries before he could receive
treatment at
Ssentongo’s personal belongings, including cell phone and wallet, were left
intact.
Ssentongo presented a daily 7 a.m. news broadcast at Kireka-based Prime Radio, the station’s news editor, Katangole Kiwanuka, told CPJ. Although Prime Radio is a Seventh-Day Adventist private station with no political leanings, Kiwanuka said, Ssentongo would occasionally discuss politics over the air. Ssentongo, a news presenter at Prime Radio for two years, was also campaigning to become a Ggoma Sub-County council member on the ticket of the opposition Democratic Party. Ssentongo worked part-time for the Mukono High Court as well, local journalists told CPJ.