Suspected coffee thief lynched months after release from prison

Police in Kassanda District are investigating a case of murder after a suspected coffee thief was lynched in a mob attack that left his alleged accomplice with serious injuries.

Police said that two men identified only as Muna and Ibra were caught on Sunday, allegedly attempting to sell to one of the locals coffee believed to have been stolen.

The would-be buyer, only identified as Bukenya, became suspicious and promptly alerted nearby residents.
“In response, a mob reportedly descended on the scene at Kalama Village in Myanzi Sub-county, Kassanda District. Muna was lynched on the spot while Ibra sustained severe injuries after being attacked with sharp objects and left unconscious,” said SP Michael Teriyeitu, the Acting Police Spokesperson for the Wamala Region.

READ: Police hunt for four suspects in Shs470m coffee theft

The village chairperson notified police, who arrived at the scene, documented the evidence, and initiated immediate investigative procedures.
Muna’s body was conveyed to Kassanda Health Centre IV for a postmortem examination, while Ibra was admitted to the same facility in critical condition.

According to SP Teriyeitu, investigations have so far established that the suspects travelled from Naama in the neighbouring Mityana District and were believed to be habitual offenders, having only recently been released from Mityana Prisons where they had served sentences related to theft.”

Cases of mob attacks are common in Uganda, with human rights activists attributing them to the public’s increasing loss of confidence in the country’s enforcement officers.
Muna’s murder comes a month after a mob cut off the hands of a 40-year-old man identified as Bosco Senkima after he was allegedly caught stealing coffee beans from the garden of one of the farmers in Kalagala Village, Kassanda District.