Uganda's State Minister for Labour Charles Okello Engola has been allegedly shot dead by his bodyguard, police said on Tuesday.

Fred Enanga, a police spokesman, said that the minister was gunned down in his home, located on the outskirts of the capital, Kampala.

Thomas Kato, a neighbor of the minister, told Anadolu that they heard gunshots from the minister's compound and later people there started shouting that the minister has been shot dead.

Police have launched an investigation into the incident.

Anita Among, Uganda's parliament speaker, has expressed grief over the killing and called it an “unfortunate” incident.