New details emerge on street beggar with gun

Army combat fatigues and boots are among items police have recovered from the home of a disabled man who was found to be in possession of a gun six days ago.

Although no charges had been preferred against the suspect by press time, police sources say the Force is taking the discovery of the gun seriously, prompting a search of his home just outside the city centre. 

Kintu Mayambala, a 43-year-old male, has been moonlighting as a beggar on Kampala’s streets. He had been the subject of a long-running surveillance operation after police informers reported that the beggar carried a weapon 

Kampala Metropolitan police arrested him last week after he was frisked and a loaded pistol found on his person.

Mayambala also goes by three different names; Farouk Mugabi, Tonny Antony Amuza, and Cowboy 43.  The wheel chair-bound man was arrested on Tuesday at a spot outside Kalungu Plaza in the capital city’s central business district. 

The suspect reportedly told arresting officers that he is a resident of Biina Mutungo, a densely populated Kampala suburb in Nakawa Division.

He spoke fluent Swahili and seemed to be familiar with military matters, a fact which may have raised even more suspicions about him. 

Police on Sunday said Mayambala is going to be subjected to a psychiatric evaluation to ascertain if he is in the right frame of mind to stand trial -- standard police practice preceding prosecution in cases where soundness of mind has to be established.

The recovered hand gun is believed to be either a single action Colt or Smith & Wesson revolver.

An official attached to Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) enforcement team told Daily Monitor that Mayambala was known as “Hajj” on the streets. 

Asking not to be named for security reasons, the official said the suspect regularly carried out his begging activities along Namirembe Road, but could also be found around the mosque next to Arua Park. 

The KCCA officer said the suspect usually got into town very early every morning and left late in the night.

Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson Patrick Onyango said Mayambala has been under security surveillance on suspicion of being in possession of suspected stolen bullets.

Mr Onyango revealed that six mobile phones and a still camera were also recovered from Mayambala. 

By press time, the suspect was being held at Central Police Station in Kampala as investigations continue.

“We have filed [for] a police medical examination of the suspect. He will be examined to ascertain his mental status. We have also filed and submitted the weapon to forensic [department] to ascertain the origin of the pistol,” he said.

Interrogation of the suspect has so far turned up intriguing information. Mayambala is reported to have attracted closer inquiry when he claimed to be a soldier with army number 3347 NRA.

Even more strangely, he also reportedly said that the pistol was given to him by President Museveni at State House, and that he has been keeping the weapon  since 2005.

The National Resistance Army (NRA) was the guerilla outfit President Museveni led during the 1981-1986 Bush War, which brought him to power in January 1986.

Over the years, elements of the NRA were integrated with soldiers of the old national army and other fighting groups, and altogether formed the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) under the 1995 Constitution.

Mayambala claimed to have been reporting to an individual he only identified as Richard at Bombo Army Barracks, 35 kilometres outside Kampala. 

He did not say whether the purported Richard was an officer or an enlisted man.

The Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs deputy spokesman, Col Deo Akiiki, was quick to point out that the NRA no longer exists and that the weapon recovered from the beggar could not be part of UPDF stores.

“We believe police is doing a good job to get rid of wrongdoers,” he said.