Residents of Nansana Municipality and parts of Northern Kampala are in living in fear after a new juvenile criminal gang known as "Dog tulumbe" hit their area causing havoc.
According to residents, gang members, who are aged between nine and 16 years, move in groups of five to seven targeting people’s money and other valuables.
The gangs according to Victim accounts and Police statements operate along the Northern by-pass covering the Bwaise-Namungoona-stretch, Hoima Road, Nabweru-Bwaise areas and other suburbs in Nansana Municipality. They don white or black tracksuits.
Patrick Onyango the Kampala Metropolitan Police Spokesperson says they have teamed up with the army in the ongoing operation dubbed "Tokoora" a Kinyankole word loosely translated as "weed out" to trace and arrest criminal members in Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area.
Onyango adds they have intensified both covert and non-covert operations to bust the emerging criminal gangs, saying they can no longer allow gangs to rule the streets of Kampala.
One of the victims of the gang operations identified as Isaac Kizito, says he was surrounded by a group of youngsters as he was slopping from Nansana market towards Nabweru one evening. The group asked him to surrender all his possessions at the time, and 'go in peace'.
"It was a bad day, and I was left with only 5000 Shillings. I gave them the money. They searched me to establish whether I had hidden cash. One threatened to kick me but the elder one stopped him telling him that I had been genuine by giving all that I had," the victim narrates.
Youngsters in the group target lady's bags and phones from moving taxis and boda-bodas especially during rush hours when there is huge traffic along Hoima Road. They also target pedestrians moving unaccompanied and assault whoever attempts to resist.
