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Flash mob robbers rock Kampala City
Some of the suspected members of flash mobs are paraded at Old Kampala Police Station after being arrested on allegations of snatching phones and other properties from pedestrians on city streets. Photo/COURTESY
What you need to know:
Flash mobs are often composed of youth, who swarm around their victims on the streets, beat them and rob them of everything in their possession.
The post-mortems of the New Year night are coming out as hundreds tell their experiences how they entered it amid torrential blows and kicks at many high class malls in Kampala City.
In videos, several victims gave their testimonies, how they were attacked and robbed at well-lit high end venues in view of everyone during the New Year celebrations.
Flash mob robbers locally known as egaali raided high-end restaurants and malls during the New Year celebrations, robbing people of their property in full view of everyone.
One of the victims, using his Tiktok account, said waitresses and customers used chairs and kitchen ware to fight off robbers, who had stormed their restaurants at one of the major malls at Nsambya on Ggaba Road in Kampala City.
“We thought these malls were safe. But we were attacked without security [personnel] helping us because there was no one inside. People were beaten. Blood was spilt all over the floor. Phones and bags were taken,” he said.
On New Year, middle class folks came in contact with the egaali gangs probably for the first time.
Pedestrians, who often walk to and from their work places, talked about attacks by the flash mob robbers in the city and its suburbs, the middle class folks couldn’t relate.
Egaali is an “innocent” Luganda word for a bicycle, but criminals have coined it for flash mob.
Flash mobs are often composed of youth, who swarm around their victims on the streets, beat them and rob them of everything in their possession.
Kampala Metropolitan Police deputy spokesperson Luke Owoyesigyire said 300 people were arrested on suspicion of participating in the crime at several events during the New Year.
“We have 300 suspects. We have these people called egaali within the festivals,” he said, adding that the suspects were arraigned in court.
What is worrying is that the flash mobs have become so bold and organised that they storm venues and events.
These gangs used to operate late in the evening for fear of being identified and arrested, but some groups are now so bold that they have started carrying out attacks during the day against pedestrians.
No one seems to be safe. The gangs waylay people going and returning from night prayers. They even travel to attend burials of prominent people in the countryside.
After public outcry, the security agencies carried out intelligence-led operations in Kampala City last month.
Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson Patrick Onyango said 100 suspects were arrested and several suspected stolen items were recovered from them.
“The suspects were found in possession of suspected stolen smart phones, women’s bags and wallets. We are trying to reach out to the owners of the recovered property to tell us how they lost them,” Senior Superintendent of Police Onyango said.
Flash mob robberies are high on the Northern Bypass, Namirembe Road, Rubaga Road, Clock Tower, Ring Road and Sir Apollo Kaggwa Road.
The gangs also concentrate around areas like bus and taxi parks, major events, and financial institutions where people are expected to carry valuables and cash.
Prosecution of the suspects in flash mob robberies is often hard for the State since most of the victims aren’t available to testify in court. Most often they are charged with misdemeanours (minor) offences since they rarely use weapons.
The minor offences are bailable and they are often released from jail.
A top investigator at Kampala Metropolitan Police said the criminals are known, but they can’t be prosecuted without being found committing the crime or when there is no evidence that they have committed a crime.
“We used to rely on offences like ‘idle and disorderly’ or ‘rogue and vagabond’ to keep these criminals off the streets. The challenge is that the President directed that we should not arrest them on such offences. We are now powerless,” the investigator said.
The investigator said the mobs that attack pedestrians early in the morning and in the evening rest at public spaces during day hours without any consequences.
The officer said the criminals often melt into the public when they are about to commit a crime.
“They walk casually and only converge at spotted targets. It is quite difficult to track them down,” the officer said.
In 2009, President Museveni directed the police to stop using the ‘idle and disorderly’ offence to target suspected criminals.
President Museveni said it was a colonial law intended for Africans who had no work. He said being idle wasn’t criminal.
The police crime intelligence officer said flash mobs walking on foot are beginners targeting victims randomly, but when they are comfortable with those incidents, they aim higher.
“They start using motorcycles to attack business people carrying large sums of money. In many cases, where foreigners carrying money from or to the bank are attacked, you find that the suspects involved were once arrested in egaali targeting poor pedestrians on the streets,” the officer said.
In September last year, more than 30 egaali gangs beat up a Japanese road traffic consultant, Okira Ito, who attempted to recover a smart phone and a laptop they had snatched from him in broad daylight in a traffic jam near Centenary Park on Kampala Road.
Ito later succumbed to his injuries, prompting police to hunt for the gang members.
The officer said unless the government takes tough decisions on how to deal with the flash mob robbers, they are going to mobilise bigger groups that will shock the nation.
