The Director of Operations at Gen Salim Saleh’s Operation Wealth Creation (OWC), Sylvia Owori has unearthed yet another revelation of how her brother John Rakeem Owori was murdered.
Owori has asserted that her brother Rakeem Owori was killed by the group of people who are now haunting her and being supported by Tororo Woman Member of Parliament (MP), Hon. Sarah Opendi to take the land that rightfully belongs to Owori family.
In our previous story (here), Owori defended herself against allegations made by Hon. Opendi, accusing her of grabbing land, harassing and intimidating residents of Nyangore sub-county in Tororo district.
According to Opendi, residents who petitioned her revealed that Owori has been harassing and threatening them under the disguise of Operation Wealth Creation using President Museveni’s name, an allegation Owori has dismissed saying the land under contention belonged to her grandfather and later her father who were both murdered by the same group Opendi is supporting.
Speaking to theGrapevine, Owori has vowed that now is the time to open up about all the atrocities that have been committed against her family.
According to Owori, her brother Rakeem was one of the leading music promoters in 2017 and was the owner of RAKS Entertainment which helped promote local musicians like Chameleon and Ragga Dee both here and in London and was mostly remembered for bringing Singer Sean Paul to perform in Uganda.
However, when Rakeem visited his ancestral home in Tororo in 2017, the same people Opendi is fronting poisoned him.
Owori revealed that his brother who had left his wife and four children in the UK was rushed to international Hospital Kampala (IHK) complaining of excruciating pain, after hanging out with his village mates who bought him food and drinks.
She revealed, “My brother Rakeem Owori, who was a music promoter in the UK was poisoned days after he returned from the UK when they had just destroyed our father’s house and only left my grandmother and my father’s grave. In fact, we slept in a tent that day.
“We tried to rush him to a nearby hospital but his situation got worse and we had to drive to IHK where he was admitted and died the following day.”
Sylvia Owori (2nd line,3rd from L) with her boss Salim Saleh (2nd line,5th from L) in a group photo with OWC officials
Asked whether she has evidence of the alleged poisoning, Owori told theGrapevine that the post-mortem done after her brother’s death confirmed that he died of multiple organ failure as a result of poisoning.
Owori added, “After his death, we were very scared to go back to the village to bury him there. I had to bury my own brother in the plot I bought in Matugga here in Kampala and to date his remains are still there, am just planning to relocate them in September this year before his anniversary.
“Those are memories of things that I have been trying not to talk about because they are so emotional. I have been in the media before, but no one has ever heard that painful story, no one knew where I came from because I was scared to bring out the pain that I was holding. To date, my brother’s children are still terrified, they cannot even come back here, because they think they will also be killed.”
Asked whether she is not afraid of the same people finishing her off, a determined Owori swore that she is more than ready to die defending her family’s legacy.
“The day they murdered my father is the day they killed me. In fact, they will be killing me twice, my father was my everything, that’s why I’m using his name. I wanted him to be proud of me, I am what I am today because of him. I am not afraid, at least they will have killed me after I officially buried my father. For the very first time on 7th May 2022, I did his last funeral rights,” she told theGrapevine.
According to Owori, none of the alleged owners has built a home on the land in question that they claim to be theirs.
“None of these people has a grave for their alleged grandparents, not even a home within the 90 acres they claim to be theirs. Why didn’t they build properties on the land they claim to have occupied for years? The 240 families that Opendi is claiming do not exist, it’s only 8 families, you can even come and verify,” she noted.
Sylvia Owori (2nd R) with OWC officials
Shocking still, Owori told theGrapevine that two weeks ago, the same people beat up her employees who were building the graves and later got hammers and tried to remove her late parents’ graves that were under construction.
“If this was their land, why are they removing the graves that have been there longer than their age? Where were they to remove the graves when my parents were buried there?” she wondered.
“I reported this matter to the police, the same people were arrested, put in jail but Opendi bailed them out. She paid for their bond yet this is a criminal case which is still even in courts of law,” she added.
In her conclusion, Owori noted that after several years of her being afraid and hiding in Kampala, she has decided to seek justice for the death of her father and recover his land.
“That’s the dilemma, I have had to pick myself up and stop being afraid, and decided to fight, if they kill me, fine, at least I will have tried. I am not giving up; I want justice for my father by reclaiming his land. I have been in a lot of pain with a heavy heart for many years.” the fashionista vowed.
Owori however noted that her main objective in Tororo is to drive her main cause of Operation Wealth Creation to improve the lives of her people and not politics.
When contacted for a response on the above allegations, Opendi distanced herself saying she is not the petitioner.
“I am not the petitioner. The people affected petitioned the Speaker through the area MP DR. Otaala. Let her get her facts also right and stop bringing in politics! That I am panicking because she may stand against me! I have fought bigger battles and won!
“I am an MP, the people, 15 in number accompanied by their sub-county chairperson, met the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Among. The matter was then placed on the order paper. Parliament is where people’s voices are raised. Let’s wait for the committee to investigate and report back together with the Minister,” Opendi told theGrapevine.
By Kobusiinge Monica
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