Thugs steal offertory, destroy priests’ robes

Police in Wakiso District are investigating the theft of property and Shs15m from Our Lady of Assumption Mwereerwe Catholic Parish in Kyambizzi Village , Gombe Sub-county.   

Unknown thugs last week broke into the church and destroyed  priestly robes and vestments before making off with their loot. 

Rev Fr James Matovu, the parish priest, said on the fateful day, when the sacristans had gone to conduct their daily routine of preparing for the morning masses, they realised that some church items were missing.

“The way these thieves broke into the church is questionable because there were no broken doors or windows. We believe that maybe there was connivance and one of our workers intentionally left the door open. Alternatively, thieves might have accessed the church keys or had master keys because even the askari (guard) was around but never detected their presence,” Fr Matovu said yesterday.

Damage
He added: “When they (thieves) entered, they forced open the control box for the public address system where we keep amplifiers and microphones.  The control box was metallic and very strong but they forced it open.”

After breaking the control box for the address system, they reportedly made off with one amplifier, one amp mixer, four microphones, and one microphone receiver. The thugs then proceeded through the sanctuary to the main church, broke a box where donations for Radio Maria  are placed  and stole all the money inside.

Fr Matovu told the Daily Monitor that Radio Maria usually gives the church a box and they stay with it for the entire year for people to support the radio financially.

“The box had not been opened for one full year and they forced it open and took away an unknown amount of money,”  he said.

The thieves also broke a small box where the congregation was putting offertory during the Christmas season and also took away the money. Another vandalised property was a Japan-made keyboard.

“They went back to the Sacristy and cut into threads some of the vestments for the priests and left them on the floor,” the parish priest said.

When Fr Matovu got to know about the matter at about 6:30am, he reportedly called the parish leaders and they informed Gombe Police Station right away. At about 8am, the police had already arrived on the ground with sniffer dogs, which led police straight to one of the local bars, just 300 metres away.

“Police searched his (bar owner) house and there was nothing. He disclosed the names of the men who were drinking from his bar that previous night and he was able to mention four people,” Fr Matovu said.

“The police managed to capture the fingerprints of the suspects, apprehend two people including the bar owner and held them for two days at Gombe Police Station and later released them on police bond and the church is yet to receive a report from police,” he added. 

Mr Luke Owoyesigire, the Kampala Metropolitan Deputy Police spokesperson, said DNA and fingerprints of the suspects  were captured and a detailed report will be released soon after investigations are complete.

He added that the other suspects are still on the run and their whereabouts is not known.

Leaders speak out
Mr John Baptist Kawuma, a church leader at Mwereerwe Parish, said thieves must have connived with some of the people working at the parish because they took only functional amplifiers and left behind the faulty ones.

Mr Godfrey Kamoga, the treasurer of the church, condemned the act and appealed to the good Samaritans to help the church in replacing the stolen items.

Mr Rockson Paul Katongole, the chairperson of Mwereerwe A Cell, said they are planning to reinstate a security committee to guard the village in the night to avert similar incidents in the future.

Ms Josephine Namatovu, a resident of Katadde and a church member, said they are conducting prayers to change the mindset of thieves.

Ms Proscovia Nakitto, another church member, appealed to other Catholic parishes to render assistance to enable them  replace stolen property.

Way forward
The church is now looking for Shs19 million to buy new machines and install CCTV cameras around the church.

Fr Matovu believes such incidents happen due to high rates of unemployment among the youth. 

He appealed to the general public to always ensure that everyone is engaging in some productive work where they can generate income.

“Youth are many in the community but very few have formal employment. Others are idle, engaged in drugs,” he said.