Driver kidnapped, killed near Kabaka’s palace

Police in greater Masaka are investigating circumstances under which a taxi driver was kidnapped and killed near the Kabaka’s palace around Nkoni-Lwengo district.

The deceased was identified as Muhammad Tamale alias Nazigoba, resident of Lusango in Lukaya town council, Kalungu district.
Police says that the assailants first stole the deceased’s phone and called him on Monday morning informing him that they had picked it and ordered him to get it from them in Masaka town.

His fellow drivers who preferred anonymity say that they last saw their colleague early Monday morning after he told them that his phone was picked by some men who later told him that they were in Masaka town and was on his way to meet them.
“He took his car for cleaning and decided to walk on foot to pick his phone, and the next news we got was of his death,” one of the drivers said.

The officer in charge of Nkoni police post AIP Martin Emudud confirms the death of Tamale.
“I reached the scene and found the cell phone near the body where it was placed which I used to call his family members to inform them of what had happened,” Emudud said.
Residents of Nkoni told police that they saw a salon Mark II type standing where the body was found but never paid attention to it.
The Southern Police spokesperson Lameck Kigozi says that the hunt for the assailants is ongoing.

Recently, the Uganda Communications Commission issued tough laws to telecom companies about unregistered SIM cards.
The registration of all SIM cards emerged following the killing of 28-year-old Susan Magara after her kidnappers had used at least 17 different SIM cards to contact her family as they solicited and negotiated a ransom.
Some of the SIM cards were reportedly unregistered and in other cases registered in names different from those of the owners, making it difficult to trace the accomplices.
UCC also revised its directive on SIM card ownership and issued new guidelines to telecoms with an individual only allowed to own not more than 10 SIM cards across all networks. Failure to observe the guidelines will attract punitive sanctions from the commission.