Thugs leave Mbarara City residents in fear

When Mbarara was granted City status in July 2020, resident’s celebrated hoping they would enjoy the benefits that come with its elevation.

However, the city has now become a hub for thieves who snatch phones, handbags and other goodies from city dwellers.

One of the streets on Buremba road, about four kilometres from the road junction that connects with the tax park to Bishop Stuart University, is one of the busiest streets at night with more than 10 bars and restaurants operating.

Boda boda cyclists say one is safer inside the bar or restaurant than on the streets. They say women have fallen prey to the thieves who hide in dark corners.

“Women should not walk on these streets at night because they risk their phones being snatched,” Mr Muzamiru Atwiine, one of the boda boda riders, at Stump Stage on Buremba road, says.

“Every night, several girls and women lose their phones and we also don’t care because they refuse to board our motorcycles claiming the charges are hight. They forget that their lives and property are equally at risk,” he adds.

Mr Alex Kyibirige, the western regional supervisor for Nation Courier, says on November 8, at 8pm, his phone was snatched by a thug riding a motorcycle on Ntare Road as he returned home.

“I had my phone, and when someone called me, I answered the call. While I was speaking, a motorcyclist came from behind and snatched the phone and rode off,”  Mr Kibirige says.

“I reported the case to the police but no progress has been made,” he added. Mr Kibirige says he thought phone snatching was only prevalent in Kampala.

Ms Naume Kyomugisha, a resident of Kamukuzi in Mbarara City North Division, says a thug on a motorcycle last week attempted to snatch her bag near her home, but she was saved by vigilant locals.

“I got a ‘boda boda rider’ from town at 8pm and my home is just a 10-minutes ride. So after a few minutes, I told the rider the exact route that heads to my home. But before we reach, I try to engage him in a conversation being at night so that I can feel secure,’’ she narrates.

 “The man kept pretending and replying to my questions. I start getting suspicious,’’ she adds.

Ms Kyomugisha says while on the motorcycle, her friend called her on phone to find out if she had reached home safely, but she had not yet reached.

“Before reaching a corner to my gate, I hide my phone in my bra since this is the advice fellow girls always give about such incidents. At this point, I remained with a bag at my back that had my laptop. I told him to stop at my gate so that I can open my bag to pay for the fare.

“This is when I realised that the man [rider] was keenly looking at me, so I held my bag firmly while giving him money, but once I paid, he grabbed my bag, fortunately, some two men were passing by, When they heard me screaming, they intervened and arrested him. He was beaten thoroughly,” Ms Kyomugisha said.

For Ms Susan Kyomukama, a resident of Kakooba in Mbarara City South Division, who was returning from work at last Monday, two thugs waylaid her on Buremba road and took her handbag with money and a phone.

“I was walking home last Monday at around 7pm after work. Two thugs followed me and snatched my bag containing a phone and money that I had worked for that day,” she narrates.

Ms Esta Musimenta, 34, a resident of Andrews Kakiika in Mbarara City North Division, also recalls how thieves made off with his phone on November 20, a Sunday afternoon. The gadget was taken as she answered a call.

“I had come out of a shop after buying a soda for my son when I got a call, but two men riding on a motorcycle snatched my phone and rode off towards Mbarara City,” she says.

On the same day, just meters away from where Ms Musimenta was robbed, Mr Abel Mwesigwa was also targeted by a group of youth who strangled him and demanded his phone and other valuables. Fortunately he made an alarm and he was saved by residents.

“On this particular incident where Mr Mwesigwa was about to be robbed, the mastermind was a known person, a son to one of the rich people in the neighbourhood who dropped out of school,” Mr Asuman Bwengye, a resident of Biafra Kakiika, who is among the people who saved Mr Mwesigwa, says.

He adds that the boy commands a group of youths who smoke marijuana.

Whereas these seem to be the usual tactics thieves have been using, there are other smartly dressed youth who target the corporate class in bars.

Ms Rose Mbabazi, a bar attendant, in the Biafra area, said she was a victim of this kind of thieves.

She explains that they first came in a group and pretended to be generous customers buying booze and befriending revellers, but with the target of studying people.

“This group spent around a week drinking at my place, they could come with good money and buy for customers booze, but little did we know they were on a mission. I was robbed of Shs800,000 and before I came to terms with it, almost all my customers were crying foul having been robbed too,’’ Ms Mbabazi says.

Mr Gadson Oketcho, the chairperson of Kakiika, says local council leaders need to be empowered to work closely with police and other security agencies.

“These kind waylaying people along roads, snatching bags, and phones, and breaking into people’s houses are easy to tame. If police and other security agencies worked closely with LCs, information about suspected criminals will be got,” Mr Oketcho says.

The Rwizi Region police spokesperson, Mr Samson Kasasira, says they are aware of the security situation in the city and they are carrying out both motorised and foot patrols to curb the crimes.

“On top of that, we are doing community and leadership sensitisations over radio to alert the populace on how best to get services when their security is threatened,” he says.

Crime statistics

Police records indicate that from January to June, they registered 2,123 cases of theft. Of those, 190 were of lost phones.

The 2021 Police Annual Crime Report places the Rwizi Region in which Mbarara City falls, as having the second highest number of theft cases after Kampala Metropolitan (KMP) North in the country.

Compiled by Felix Ainebyoona, Rajab Mukombozi, Sheillar Mutetsi, Julius Byamukama, Coslin Nakayiira, and Savinah Mpiirwe

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