Kampala — FIRE gutted a house belonging to the Gulu District chairman, Norbert Mao. The cause of the fire has not been officially established but the Police at the scene suspected arson.

The Police fire fighting unit rushed to the scene in Laroo Division in Gulu Municipality and battled the fire, which started at 5pm on Friday. The fire was put out after it had destroyed the roof.

The house was vacant at the time of the fire as it was still under construction.

According to eye witnesses, smoke started coming out of the roof in the afternoon before it burst into flames.

"This was a well planned fire. It started from the ceiling board and then spread. We suspect that someone could have put petrol inside and lit the fire," an eye witness said.

The regional Police public relations officer, Johnson Kilama, said: "This is a planned fire because fire cannot just start by itself in an unoccupied house."

Mao has been living in a rented house in Gulu since 2006, when he was elected Gulu District chairman.

Efforts to get comments from him were futile as he could not answer his mobile phone on Saturday.