An old boy of Vienna College Namugongo, Abdul Mayanja is dead at just 19 years.
His father, Kidza explained to UK’s Standard Newspaper that the young RAF cadet was shot dead in front of friends near the Olympic Park on Friday evening.
The 19-year-old had left home to attend a friend’s barbecue party when he was shot in the street yards from Maryland Station in Stratford. He died in hospital.
Mr Mayanja, a cadet flight sergeant, was scheduled to move to Los Angeles this week to finish training, his devastated family said today
Mr. Kidza said his son had been “destined to fly in the RAF” after starting his training at 14 at 338 West Ham Squadron air cadets.
The business consultant, 58, said: “He was a responsible young man and couldn’t stop making new friends. “He kept contact with everyone he met from around the world in the cadets. He was a beacon of light to our family and community.
“Our boy went to a barbecue and never came home. The killer is still out there. We want justice but no more bloodshed. We don’t want any other family to feel the pain we have to feel.”
Speaking at their family home in Plaistow, his mother added: “We told him to be careful and we wanted him home early because we know that trouble can happen, especially on this bank holiday weekend.
“The first thought we had was he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“We took so much pride in Abdul. He showed so much potential in everything he tried to do. “I had this sense of pride in him as he left the front door that day. A couple of hours later I was looking at his lifeless body. All I want is whoever killed my son to be found. I’m scared for my other children.
“We are going to have to rob them of their freedoms and keep them safe inside after what happened to Abdul.”
Witnesses described hearing a single shot and screams from Mr Mayanja’s friends in Well Street at 10.40pm on Friday.
One said: “Everyone ran out of their homes to see what had happened. The boy was lying on the pavement not moving and his friends were screaming and crying — it was awful.”
Mr Mayanja, one of four siblings, had recently returned from studying for three years in Uganda. He is the 11th teenager to be killed on the streets of the capital since January.
His aunt Margaret Kirunda added: “He was a young man who wouldn’t hurt a fly. That’s what makes his violent death so unbearable.
“Flying planes was his childhood dream. Whoever killed my nephew must be the cruellest person on earth to take these dreams away from him.”
Detective Chief Inspector Will Reynolds, leading the inquiry, appealed for witnesses to come forward.
