News

Several Feared Dead as YY Bus Bursts Into Flames

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1 day ago

May 5, 2025

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A tragic accident involving a YY Coaches bus has claimed several lives after the vehicle overturned and caught fire along the Nyenga-Kisoga stretch of the Kampala–Jinja Highway in Buikwe District.

The bus with registration number UAV 701C, which was heading to Soroti from Kampala, reportedly crashed at around 5:00 PM on Monday, bursting into flames moments later and burning almost entirely to ashes.

Eyewitnesses described the harrowing scene, with many passengers feared to have been trapped inside the burning wreckage.

“We saw the bus lose control and flip before flames engulfed it. It was terrifying,” said one witness, who was traveling on a nearby vehicle.

By press time, authorities had not yet issued an official statement on the cause of the crash. Still, police and emergency services were on the ground conducting rescue and recovery operations.

It remains unclear how many people were on board and how many survived.

Some survivors, severely injured, were rushed to nearby hospitals, including Kawolo Hospital and Jinja Regional Referral Hospital.

YY Coaches, one of Uganda’s most popular long-distance passenger bus companies, has had a troubled safety history despite operating one of the most widespread intercity transport fleets.

The company has previously faced criticism over road safety concerns.

In February 2020, a YY bus heading to Mbale was involved in a head-on collision in the Mabira Forest area, leaving at least six people dead and over 20 injured.

In July 2016, another YY bus overturned in Iganga District, killing five people on the spot.

One of the most devastating YY Coaches incidents occurred in October 2013, when a bus collided with a sugarcane truck along the Tirinyi–Mbale road, resulting in 11 fatalities.

Investigations at the time blamed reckless driving and failure to observe traffic regulations.

Despite several public outcries and directives by the Ministry of Works and Transport to improve safety standards, YY Coaches has continued to operate with limited regulatory consequences.

While police had yet to comment formally, traffic officers at the scene told reporters that investigations were underway to determine whether speeding, mechanical failure, or driver error had been involved.

Family members of passengers on board have begun gathering at police posts and hospitals in search of their loved ones.

More details will be provided as investigations progress and authorities release official figures.

News

Bobi Wine’s Bodyguard Eddie Mutwe Charged

Published

1 day ago

May 5, 2025

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The opposition National Unity Platform (NUP) President Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu’s civilian bodyguard, Edward Sebuufu aka Eddy Mutwe, has been charged with two counts of robbery and aggravated robbery and remanded to prison despite his poor health condition resulted from days of torture in military detention.

Mutwe, who according to NUP President, was violently abducted by soldiers in Mukono district on April 27, has been under military detention since then.

Today, Monday, May 5, 2025, he was brought to Masaka High Court by security forces. He was limping and was supported by two individuals to walk.

Journalists were barred from capturing the proceedings.

As a result, journalists did not attend the court session, but Mutwe’s lawyer, Magellan Kazibwe, who himself was initially restricted from accessing court premises but later allowed to enter, revealed to reporters what transpired in Court.

“By the time we entered court, we found Mutwe being arraigned before His Worship, Abudallah Kaiza – Grade One Magistrate, who read the charges against him,” Kazibwe told reporters after the court session.

“Those are the same charges which were preferred against Achleo Kivumbi, Wakabi, and Gaddafi (other civilian bodyguards of the NUP President). The same charges of simple robbery and aggravated robbery, which allegedly occurred at Manja village in Lwengo district,” he added.

A few days after Mutwe was arrested, the Chief of Defence Forces (CDF), General Muhoozi Kainerugab, posted a picture of him (Eddy Mutwe) with his beard shaved.

Today, Kazibwe said that his client has been badly tortured.

“Mr Edward Sebuufu has been over tortured for all the days he has been in illegal detention. He was tortured every day. He has told me and my colleague that he was tortured every day five times. And they were beating him using wires of electricity. They were electrocuting him; they were squeezing him, including his private parts. He is in great pain,” Kazibwe told reporters.

“He has not received any medication, he has not accessed any doctor up to now, and he was not being allowed even to communicate with his relatives. They confiscated his mobile phones and all the money. He has not been eating, and he is in a very bad and appalling state,” Kazibwe added.