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Kampala’s robbery hotspots revealed
A traffic jam on the Northern Bypass in Naalya, Kampala, in 2019. Many motorists and commuters have reported cases of robbery on the road. Photo | Stephen Otage
What you need to know:
- Gangs riding boda bodas have been trailing and waylaying people they suspect to be carrying money or other valuables, beat and rob them.
Police have started a crackdown on criminal gangs following a spate of violent crimes in various parts of Kampala and its suburbs.
Gangs riding boda bodas have been trailing and waylaying people they suspect to be carrying money or other valuables, beat and rob them.
Police identified the crimainal hotspots as Wakaliga Road, Rubaga Road, Fort Road, Hoima Road, Kyaggwe Road, Rashid Khamis Road, Eighth Street in Industrial Area, Wankoko area on Port Bell Road, Northern Bypass, Nakawa-Ntinda Stretcher Road, Ring Road near Lubiri, and Nsambya -Ggaba Road junction.
Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesman Patrick Onyango said an intelligence-led operation has been launched to break up the gangs.
“We have made some arrests of gang members like those who have been attacking business people especially those of Asian origin and their workers on their way to and from the bank to make financial transactions. The suspects have been cooperative and within days all gang members will be in our custody,” Mr Onyango said in interview with this newspaper on Sunday.
The gangs have also been attacking mobile money agents.
Such violent crimes had declined in the city centre due to the coronavirus restrictions on the movement of boda-bodas last year.
Many of these robberies have even been captured on police CCTV cameras being carried out in broad daylight.
Mr Onyango advised business people carrying large sums of money to reach out to police for escort to and from the bank.
Other criminal groups have been targeting motorists during traffic jam hours in the evening after 7pm and in the morning between 4am and 6.30am on the Northern Bypass, Industrial Area and on recently tarmacked roads such as in Kira Municipality where police CCTV cameras have not been installed.
The gang members carry heavy stones which they throw at the windscreen of the victim’s vehicle and gain access into the vehicle to grab the money or other valuables.
On Friday, Mr Alex Luganda, a lawyer, wrote on his social media platform that they were attacked by a gang on Northern Bypass and robbed just a few metres away from a police roadblock on Thursday night.
Mr Luke Owoyesigyire, the deputy spokesperson for Kampala Metropolitan Police, yesterday said four of the thugs who attacked Mr Luganda and other motorists on Northern Bypass have been arrested.
“We have discovered that this group had their own van. When they reached the traffic jam near our checkpoint, they came out, attacked motorists and robbed them of their property. They later drove away. Some suspects have been arrested and they are helping us to find their colleagues and the van they used,” he said.
