Some of the items that were captured from suspected members of a criminal gang at Katwe Police Station on June 20, 2023. PHOTO/COURTESY.
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Police bust former street kids gang terrorising city residents
What you need to know:
- SSP Onyango said the suspects have since named people in the city centre to whom they allegedly sell stolen items.
- Despite their busy night, the suspects didn’t rest. Next target was a Chinese national, who is a director with China State Construction Company, whom they relieved of $300 (nearly Shs1.2 million) and three mobile phones near Nyanama in Kawempe Division.
A routine stop-and-search operation targeting suspicious vehicles in one of Kampala’s rough neighbourhoods has led police to an underworld gang -- drawn from among former street children.
Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson Patrick Onyango told Monitor that on June 7, patrol officers recovered an assortment of house-breaking equipment hidden inside a Toyota Wish minivan on Namasole Road in Makindye.
“Five occupants, all in their 20s, couldn’t explain to officers their movement and what they were going to use the breaking equipment for. In a detailed search, we recovered masks and other items often used in burglaries,” Senior Superintendent of Police Onyango said yesterday.
“They were arrested and further investigations found out that they were going for a burglary in Bunga, and that they had previously participated in other robberies”.
The police have linked the gang to at least 20 recent violent robberies around the capital city. Charges of aggravated robbery, burglary and attempted murder have been preferred against the entire lot.
Five of the suspects are former street children, who turned to crime as they grew into young men, police said.
Their gang has operated across the width and breadth of the city; stretching east of Kampala to Kitintale in Nakawa Division; down south in Wakaliga, Rubaga Division and all over the crowded suburbs of Kajjansi, Ndejje and Bulenga in neighbouring Wakiso District.
A police source, who participated in the operation, said when the five suspects were taken into custody, they gave contradictory statements about where and what they were going to do.
Further interrogation revealed that Bunga, Makindye Division was the target for the day’s burglary. The suspects reportedly self-criminated, pinning each other.
The suspects included 32-year-old Jamil Ssendawula, a resident of Kibutika Ndejje Parish; 24-year-old Ronald Mbazira from Ngobe Zone in Bunamwaya and Nicholas Ssebandeke, 29.
Others are 27-year-old David Mugula from Kapeeke zone in Rubaga, and Fahad Akandwanaho, 18, a resident of Bulemba Village, Kazo Sub-county in western Uganda’s Kazo District.
Two days after the arrests, detectives arrested Ibrah Nkalubo, 30, the suspected gang leader.
Police detectives were also able to exploit the suspects’ differences and obtained more details of their activities. A month ago, on May 22, in Kyanja, Kawempe Division, the source said Ssendawula, Mbazira, Magezi Ssebandeke revealed how along with Nkalubo they robbed a gun from a private security guard at an apartment complex.
They then allegedly robbed a tenant of home appliances before making off with Shs300,000 in cash.
“The incident was even captured on a CCTV camera at the affected residence. The victim had earlier reported a case at Kensington Police Post in Kyanja. It was the first case that directly linked the suspects to these crimes,” the police source said, adding, “they said Nkalubo took the gun and they remained with house-breaking tools”.
Police parade members of a suspected gang at Katwe Police Division in Kampala last week. A routine stop-and-search operation targeting suspicious vehicles in one of Kampala’s rough neighbourhoods has led law enforcement officials to an underworld gang run by street kids. Photo /Courtesy of Police
Nkalubo has reportedly admitted to the police that this gun was used in a May 26 break-in on four residential houses in Lufuka Zone, Ndejje Parish in Makindye Ssabagabo Town Council. Electronic appliances and Shs10 million was taken in the 3am heist.
Investigators checked and verified that victims in the Lufuka robbery had indeed reported to Mirimu Police Post that very day.
On the same night, an hour later, the same gang robbed a South Sudanese national of Shs500,000 and mobile phones at Kanyanya Zone in the same parish. He reported the case at Ndejje Police Station.
Despite their busy night, the suspects didn’t rest. Next target was a Chinese national, who is a director with China State Construction Company, whom they relieved of $300 (nearly Shs1.2 million) and three mobile phones near Nyanama in Kawempe Division.
“Our detectives discovered that some of the suspects were again truthful because when we checked, we found out that the Chinese national reported a case at Nyanama Police Post on the same day,” the source said.
Three days later, the gang returned to Entebbe Road to target homes located in an enclosure at Bweya in Kajjansi Town Council. It is here where their luck begun to run out. Our source said a fight ensued, with would-be victims putting up stiff resistance. Sensing defeat, Nkalubo fled, abandoning the gun.
“Our records also show that the same gun, which was robbed in Kyanja, was recovered at Bweya after the failed robbery. We were able to link the suspects to that crime scene,” the source said.
Police also identified three other incidents where the same gang is believed to have robbed homes in Kitintale, Wakaliga and Bulenga.
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Mbazira is said to have led crime officers to the home of his girlfriend, Carol Namubiru, in Ngobe Central Zone, Mutundwe Parish in Bunamwaya where he allegedly hid some stolen items. Ms Namubiru was arrested and is helping police with investigations.
“We recovered house-breaking implements, several flat TVs, laptops, over a dozen mobile phones, electronic appliances and other items suspected to be stolen property,” police sources said.
SSP Onyango said the suspects have since named people in the city centre to whom they allegedly sell stolen items.
“We are also pursuing them,” he said.
The Makindye surprise discovery is one more success in an ongoing police crack-down on violent crime in and around Kampala. So far, gangs in Rubaga, Nansana and Kira Municipality have been dismantled, according to the police.
