Masaka killings are sponsored, police say

The groups behind the killings of people in Greater Masaka area are organised and sponsored by individuals that are yet to be discovered, police have said.

At least 28 people have been killed in Masaka City and Lwengo District since late July.
Police spokesperson Fred Enanga said 15 suspects, who have admitted to the killings, have been arrested.

“They have given us valuable information; where they were recruited from, where they held meetings. These are planned activities. We shall be able to find out the sponsors of these activities,” Mr Enanga said yesterday at the police headquarters at Naguru, Kampala.

Residents in Greater Masaka have been in panic since last month when the attacks started. Most of the victims are elderly people, who are hit with blunt objects on the head. Some were hacked with machetes.

Mr Enanga said the information they have obtained from the suspects will be able to lead them to the planners and sponsors of the killings.

Police detectives have ruled out monetary benefits or land wrangles since suspects do not take anything from their victims. Besides, those targeted are at the lowest of the economic ladder.

The criminals operate in three cells, two of which are in Lwengo while the other is in Masaka City.
Mr Enanga said the two cells in Lwengo District have been dismantled by security agencies.
“Our focus now is on the third cell, which is the newest, and it is in Masaka City,” he said.

Mr Enanga said it is quite difficult to trace the killers given the fact that they are embedded in the community and have blended well with the residents.

Security agencies have also embarked on identifying relatives of all elderly persons living alone in Greater Masaka to ensure protection.

“For an elderly person, who has been staying alone, it is better we arrange such people to stay with their relatives who can give them protection in the meantime,” he said.

He said the criminals are finding it hard to target big families for fear of counter attack from the members.
“We want to isolate these elderly people [from the troublesome community] in this period. Their relatives should accommodate them until our next strategy,” he said.

Greater Masaka area has been a hotspot of mysterious killings over the last 10 years.
In June 2009, 14 murders were registered in Greater Masaka and they were attributed to contract killers.

The hackings ceased, but emerged in 2013 in Rakai District where families were attacked and hacked to death. Investigations were not conclusive.

Again in 2018, another group hacking people emerged in the area, but some suspects were arrested and others killed.