At least 40 suspected thugs believed to have been reportedly terrorizing Kawempe division and parts of Kasangati have been arrested in a night swop by the Kampala Metropolitan Police-KMP.
According to Police spokesperson Fred Enanga, the suspects were picked in intelligence led operations by Kawempe and Kasangati Police Divisions following multiple complaints of house-breakings, muggings, and illegal roadblocks by thugs.
Six suspected members of Kasolo group were arrested along Bombo road, in Kawempe Ttula and Matugga during the operations after being found with various house-breaking instruments and Opium. The suspects are Dagaras Mukwaya, Moses Lubwama, Ali Shafik, Joel Mugerwa, George Kalanzi, and Charles Mawanda.
They are currently in custody at Kawempe Police division waiting to be processed. Police extended the operations to Bumbu, Kiteezi, in Kasangati town council where 12 other suspects were also picked up. Police have identified some of the suspects as Budril Katende, Patrick Mbowa, Ntege Shafik, Nathan Kayola, Lubega Patrick, and Robert Nkata.
Adam Kakaire Mulondo, the Kasangati Police Division Commander, says that the suspects were behind several illegal roadblocks where they could rob people, especially motorists and pedestrians returning home late at night.
“We had registered several complaints, especially from the areas of Kiteezi, Kabaga, Kabaganda, Buumbu, and other surrounding areas. These have also been participating in home breakings, but we’re still looking for their accomplice still at large," Kakaire noted.
Another twenty suspects were also arrested from Katogo zone, Bwaise III ward, Jambula zone, and Tebyoreka zone, all in Kawempe division on Tuesday night.
Emmanuel Kate, the defense secretary of Tebyoreka zone in Bwaise, says the criminality in Bwaise has worsened. He attributes the high crime rates to the recent eviction of street vendors, which has forced many youths to resort to crime for survival.
In the Nansana crackdown, police picked Patrick Ainebyona and Patrick Kafungamugaba with two suspected stolen motorcycles. Enanga says Police have established that the two are part of machete-wielding thugs that were raiding homes in Namungoona, Kyengera, and Nansana in the past months.
Apart from Kawempe, Kasangati and Nansana violent robberies have also been reported in Mukono, Kira town council, and Kajansi township in Wakiso districts where some armed gang members and iron bar hitmen have been wreaking havoc on residents. The thugs have been erecting roadblocks where they would intercept and rob unsuspecting motorists.
