Kidnaps, killings fan feeling of insecurity

Kampala.

A spate of kidnaps and murders that have claimed at least eight lives in the past four months alone, this week jolted new police boss Martins Okoth Ochola into addressing his maiden press conference.
Of the eight people who have been confirmed killed after being kidnapped, all but one, according to a list compiled by Saturday Monitor, are women and children, some as young as two years old.
The police say they have so far managed to rescue eight victims of kidnap, with seven others still missing.
They say they have registered 20 cases of “self-kidnap” during the same period.
Government officials, including President Museveni, have downplayed the wave of kidnaps as isolated cases of criminality that will be dealt with “decisively”. Yet the situation only seems to get worse.
State actors have changed, with Gen Kale Kayihura being replaced by Mr Ochola as police boss, for example, but the narrative to explain the recurrence of crime has remained almost the same.
In the recent past, more than 10 Muslim clerics were killed by shooting.
State prosecutor Joan Kagezi and former police spokesperson Andrew Felix Kaweesi and his assistants Godfrey Wambewo and Kenneth Erau were also killed in similar style.
More than 30 women in parts of Wakiso and Kampala were killed by still unknown people and their bodies were dumped in different places. Then there was a wave of robberies, attacks and murders in Greater Masaka and other areas.
Mysterious deaths of foreign nationals kicked off by the death of a Swedish and Finnish national in two top Kampala hotels within hours of each other followed.
Add other crimes such as snatching mobile phones on the streets, robberies and house break-ins then you have a perfect cocktail.
In his press briefing, Inspector General of Police, Mr Ochola, linked some of the kidnappings and killings in the country to terrorism. The capital offence was a pet subject for his predecessor and former boss, Gen Kayihura.
Mr Ochola classified the kidnaps under different categories. He said some kidnap to demand for ransom; others kidnap to raise money to finance terrorism; while others kidnap for ritual sacrifice; kidnap as crime of passion; and self-kidnap.
By police’s own record, 22 people were kidnapped countrywide in 2017, and eight of them were yet to be found by the time the report was authored.
In 2016, seven people were reported kidnapped, with one still missing, while in 2015, out of the 10 people kidnapped, one was never found, according to records by the now disbanded Police Flying Squad unit.

Some unanswered questions

Has technology failed?
At one point, technology was touted as the magic bullet to solve the killings, but that line is gradually muting in subsequent proposals to solve crime in the country.
The police Force was recently given $124m (Shs60b) to install closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras across the country to curb murders. The money, which was in a supplementary budget, has to be spent before the end of the current financial year.
The cameras are to be installed in all major towns and busy highways across the country as per President Museveni’s directive. It is not clear how far this project has moved, but when asked about the same, IGP Ochola said the Force has eyes across the city and promised to give journalists a tour of the same.
The killers operate with impunity, including demanding for money before they release bodies of their victims. In almost all the cases, the kidnappers have used mobile phones to demand for money.
Recently, the police leadership, led by State Minister for Internal Affairs, Mario Kania Obiga, conceded before Parliament’s Human Rights Committee that the police lack sufficient technology to track the kidnappers.
For example, Kampala Metropolitan Police boss Moses Kafeero, in whose policing region most of the killings have been committed, informed MPs that some of the kidnappers used the victims’ phones to demand for money, which he said makes it hard to know their identity.
“This system of tracking we have works when the phone is on, so you keep tracking the masts. As soon as the phone is off, you can travel anywhere and the mast can’t detect,” Mr Kafeero said.

Are these copycat cases?
In all the previous kidnaps and killings, the police and other security agencies have always claimed to have arrested the perpetrators, yet the crimes, sometimes in a similar fashion, continue until a new trend catches on. The “copycat effect”, coined around 1916 due to the crimes that were inspired by Jack the Ripper in London, was first used in relation to murders that mimicked his killings. It is hard to know whether what is happening here may have a copycat strand to them.
Who is the beneficiary?
The kidnappers always ask for ransom and in many cases, it has been paid. In fact, IGP Ochola this week appealed to the public not to pay the ransom in case their own are kidnapped. But beyond the perpetrators, who benefits from these heinous acts?
Mr Ochola also talked about terrorism. Is it possible that the terrorists, by carrying out kidnaps and murders, hope to implant fear among the citizens, which is a key weapon of terrorism?
The other question that has been thrown about is whether there is a political angle to the kidnaps, murders and related crimes. Could it be a tool some actors may be using to poke holes into President Museveni’s narrative that he restored security of person and property?

Muhammad Tamale, aka Nazigoba

He hoped to recover his phone that had been stolen. A call from the people who claimed to have taken it was comforting yet these lay a trap for the taxi driver. Tamale’s body was found near the Kabaka’s palace around Nkoni in Lwengo District on March 27, where he is believed to have been killed by his attackers.

Jackline Masibo

Masibo was taken on her way to a hospital in the neighbouring Tororo District. Her captors trailed her for a while before making their move. Local fishermen in Namungura Village, Butebo Sub-county, Busia District found the body of the mother of four and a trader in Busia Town, in River Malaba. She had gone missing on April 16. It is believed her captors dumped it after killing her.

Rose Nakisekka -17 years old

The resident of Kigo Villa-Maria in Kalungu District, was kidnapped two weeks ago, on May 10. Her body was found in Nalumunye on May 21. Police reported that one of the alleged kidnappers led investigators to where it was dropped.
The deceased’s father, Mr Fred Kasaga, said the kidnappers demanded Shs10m but reduced the price to Shs5m and finally to Shs1m. After the money was sent, however, the kidnappers called him to say they had changed their minds and killed Nakisekka. They demanded another Shs500,000 for buying plastic bags in which to keep her body.

Brinah Nalule -17 years old

She planned to return to school, YMCA Buwambo, to resume her studies after a weekend away. Nalule, however, did not make it. She was kidnapped at the Old Taxi Park in Kampala at around 7pm on May 6 as she headed to board a taxi back to her hostel. The kidnappers demanded a Shs10m ransom, but her parents could not raise the money. She was killed. Her body was recovered in Kibaawo Zone in Mutundwe, Lubaga Division. It was mutilated and the tongue and private parts had been cut off.

Charity Kyohirwe -32 years old

Kyohirwe did not make it to a local church where she was a regular on the evening of March 23. The next Kyohairwe’s mother, Grace Muhwezi, heard of her was a call she received demanding for a ransom.
The body of the resident of Masajja Parish in Makindye Division, Kampala, was found dumped in a banana plantation in Mutundwe, a city suburb the following day, March 24, by residents with marks of strangulation and sexual abuse in Kabaawo zone in Mutundwe, Rubaga Division in Kampala. The captors allegedly used her mobile phone and called her relatives, demanding a ransom of Shs5m.

Susan Magara - 28 years

Susan’s mutilated body was found dumped between Kigo and Kajjansi off the Entebbe Express Highway on February 27. She had been missing for at least 20 days. Her family reportedly paid a hefty ransom to her captors, but they still killed her. At one point, her father, John Fitzgerlad Magara, was called to pick a message wrapped in a polythene bag, which included her two fingers and a video they described as a ‘must see’.
Her gruesome murder garnered public and media attention and caused some national debate on the killings in the country. Kidnappings and killings like hers have, however, escalated since her burial at her ancestral home in Nyakafunjo Village, Kitoba Sub-county, Hoima District.

Lowena Murungi - 2 years old

Murungi was the first born of her parents Marion Musimenta and Andrew Muhumuza, a police officer attached to Very Important Persons Protection Unit (VIPPU) in Nsambya. She was kidnapped on April 12 at Kinoni Trading Centre. Her kidnappers demanded Shs5m from her parents for her safe return. Her tiny lifeless body was dumped in a swamp. Police later arrested suspects, who led the officers where the body had been dumped.

Dorcus Nakiwunga - 2 years old

She was taken together with her brother, Israel Namalego, 4, from their parents’ home in Naluvule, Wakiso District on May 18. A search, in futility, was mounted for their recovery. Her lifeless body was found by a cattle keeper lying in a thicket. Her tongue and other organs had been cut out and taken.

Israel Namalego - 4 years old

He was taken together with his sister Dorcus Nakiwunga, 2, from their parents’ home in Naluvule, Wakiso District on May 18. A search, in futility, was mounted for their recovery. His lifeless body was found by a cattle keeper in a thicket. Like his sister, his tongue had been cut out and taken.