How gangster Sobi died violently

READ: Sobi arrested over village raid

The piece of land is also claimed by Mzee Samuel Kaliisa, 85, who, according to some locals here, is the rightful owner.
Monitor has learnt that on Monday, residents and local leaders backing Kaliisa first gathered at the home of one of his sons, Fred Nyangabo. It is here where they allegedly decided to attack Sobi’s gang.  
“We were preparing lunch and other team members were planting banana suckers. When I sensed danger, I ran to our camp but the attackers came chasing us,” one Jonah Opio revealed.

“Three people confronted our commander (Sobi) and hit him with a club. When he fell on ground, they started cutting him using a sharp machete”.
He said Sobi had recruited them for the job from city slums, including Kisenyi and Katwe. Before going to Gomba, they had been hired for similar jobs in Kayunga, Wakiso and Nakaseke districts.
Isma Kyagulanyi, another survivor, said Sobi first restrained gang members not to fight back, insisting that “they were deployed to work on the farm, but when the number of angry residents kept swelling [we] were prompted to fight back”.

“We were caught off-guard, our commander is a fighter, but couldn’t do much,” he said.
“The sub-county chairperson was among the people who attacked us. They wanted to kill three people and our commander was the main target,” Mr Solomon Tumusiime, another survivor, said. Monitor was not able to independently verify the claim Mr Tumusiime made about the sub-county chairperson’s participation.

Before his violent death, Sobi appeared to have chosen a new path in life. In an interview with bloggers last year, the former gangster said he no longer works with security agencies as was the case in years gone by.
“These days I am more into helping people secure their land. Once you present ownership documents, and I also establish that you are the rightful owner, I help you occupy your land using my team,” he said.

According to Ms Harriet Nakamya, the Gomba Resident District Commissioner, a group of about 200 people attacked Sobi’s gang.
“Both parties have been occupying different sections of the land, but it is unfortunate that the people they deployed to guard the land have chosen to attack each other,” she said.

Ms Nakamya said one side had presented documents of ownership and her office was still waiting to hear from Kallisa’s family.
“Mzee Kallisa’s family has on several occasions failed to present their documents. We are still waiting for them,” she said 
Mr George Abigaba, the chairperson Maddu Sub-county, said Mr Akram Ssembatya, who claimed to be a surveyor, was the first to come to the area and later brought Nagadya, Kiweewa and Nabakka.
“[Ssembatya] claimed that he had bought the land and had a title, which we protested because we knew an absentee landlord, Paul Kibi as the original owner,” he said.

The chairperson claimed Sobi received Shs50 million as advance payment and has been making threatening telephone calls to him.
“Even on Sunday, he called saying he was deployed to kill and I should leave the land issues. He said he had intelligence information that I was mobilising residents to attack their camp and they are well equipped to counter any attack. I told him I wasn’t aware [of that] and reported the matter at police,” he said. 

Mr Majid Karim, the Katonga region police spokesperson, said no arrests have been made. 
He identified the injured as Mr Gerald Katumba, Mr Aliyu Dera and Mr Andrew Mareka.