Suspected armed pirates rob boat engines in Buvuma

Authorities in Buvuma District are investigating the robbery of boat engines by suspected armed pirates at Bwema Subcounty on Saturday July 24.

While the authorities give contradicting accounts on the number of boat engines robbed from two fishermen at Bwema Sub County where the Police at Buvuma Central Police Station say the number of boats stolen is two and not seven as stated by the other security departments including the office of the Resident District Commissioner (RDC), the whereabouts of the suspects is still unknown.

Police on Tuesday said the two boats were stolen on Saturday night from Mr Vincent Mafuna and Mr Meddy Musoke, both residents of Kaziru fish landing site at Bwema Sub County.

“The suspects that were armed with machetes stole two boats at Kaziru fish landing site. The hunt for the suspects is ongoing,’’ Buvuma Central Police Station OC, Timothy Malcom Wabutwa told Daily Monitor in a brief interview.

But Buvuma RDC Mr Juma Kigongo in a separate interview revealed that seven boat engines had been stolen by armed men that were dressed in casual clothes, an account that contradicts that given by the police in terms of the number of boats stolen by the suspected pirates.

“The investigations are on to truck down the suspected pirates that stole the boat engines. Three of the boat engines were stolen from Mr Vincent Mafuna. We have had very few cases involving pirates that target property including boat engines. We have already organized a security meeting to ensure that the security operations are intensified,” he said.

Efforts to trace the victims of the boat engine robbery were stile futile by the time the story was filed.

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