Masked police goons names, faces revealed

He said they also pay these informers depending on the “weight” of information they bring to the police.
The masked men operate under a group code-named “Team No Sleep”. It is led by Mr Moses Mayanja, who once operated in war-torn Iraq as a guard in the US army bases.
A police source close to Mr Mayanja told Saturday Monitor that upon his return from Iraq, he became a private driver to Mr Jonathan Baroza, a personal assistant to the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Gen Kale Kayihura.
It was through that connection that he joined the daily surveillance of Opposition leaders and politicians in 2015.

Mayanja becomes link
Given Mr Mayanja’s closeness to Mr Baroza, he became the link between the Team No Sleep masked operatives and the police.
A senior police officer told Saturday Monitor that the masked men directly report to Mr Baroza for guidance and funding.
Efforts to get a comment from Mr Baroza were futile as our repeated calls to his cellular phone went unanswered. Our text messages to his phone did not yield any fruit either.
Mr Baroza is no stranger to controversy. In February, the Inspector General of Government (IGG), Ms Irene Mulyagonja, opened investigations to review several complaints against the promotion of some 496 police officers announced by Gen Kayihura on February 3, following a petition to her office.

The petition particularly questioned the promotion of seven police officers, including Mr Baroza, who was made to skip two ranks and was promoted to Assistant Commissioner of Police.
The IGG is yet to conclude the investigations.

When Saturday Monitor contacted Mr Mayanja, he confirmed being the leader of the Team No Sleep group.
Mr Mayanja said he was proud of his group’s work in subduing the political Opposition, whom he said want to cause chaos in the country.

“We are fighting for our country. We just want peace. Supporters of that man (Dr Kizza Besigye of Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party) come to destroy our property through riots. That is why we retaliate against them,” Mr Mayanja said, proudly.
He said they have profiled Dr Besigye’s supporters at different events and when they strike, they know their targets.
“We have photographs of those people, including boda boda cyclists who escort Dr Besigye and [Kampala Lord Mayor Erias] Lukwago. We have taken their photographs from different parts of the country such as Rukungiri. Police had failed to deal with them, but when we beat them up, do you still see any of them following those two guys [Dr Besigye and Mr Lukwago]?” he said.

He claimed his group is not indiscriminate in their attacks. He said they only attack their targets and spare others.
“Has any journalist ever told you that we attacked him or her? No! We know the group we target,” Mr Mayanja said.
Mr Mayanja’s men possess pepper sprays, which they use to blind their victims before they use special sticks to hit them. After subduing their victims, they impound their motorcycles and belongings. They hand over the motorcycles to the police, except the victims’ money. The money is never recovered by the owners.
Mr Mayanja said the pepper spray, handcuffs and sticks were provided by the police upon their request for them for self-defence.

On the group’s relationship with Mr Baroza, he first claimed he did not know him, but later described him as “a good man.”
Another strong pillar in the group is Franco Ekea, alias Kanyama. When Saturday Monitor contacted him by telephone, he confirmed being a member of the group, but said he would only give details about their operations for a fee.
“I have the information you want, but I don’t give it for free,” Mr Ekea said.
Mr Mayanja is deputised by Mr Geoffrey Ddamba, alias Kisanja.
Former group members told Saturday Monitor that Mr Ddamba was a driver but later switched to distributing receipts of Uganda Taxi Operators and Drivers Association (Utoda) to taxi drivers.
When Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) threw out Utoda from the management of taxi parks in 2011, Mr Ddamba became jobless. Taxi operators did not want to see former Utoda agents anywhere closer to the taxi parks.

In his pursuit for survival, he joined police as an informer. The Opposition campaigns against the rise of fuel prices and commodity prices in 2011 dubbed walk-to-work had just started and were gaining momentum.
Mr Ddamba and others were assigned to keep track on Opposition members, whom police believed wanted to mobilise taxi operators to join the walk-to-work campaign. Their hunt against Opposition supporters continued up to the 2016 general election.
They set their base at Kampala Central Police Station, where they spent most of the time in the parking lot waiting for assignments.

Mr Michael Ssekiziyivu, the head of Taxi Parks and Stages Committee (Tapscom), also operates closely with Mr Mayanja’s Team No Sleep group.
Early this year, Mr Ssekiziyivu, dressed in a brown uniform, which many Iraq guard returnees possess, ordered women activists during Opposition prayers in the city to disperse and threatened stern action if they did not comply.
The women activists said when they questioned his authority, he identified himself as a security operative.

How they operate
A source within the group said during Opposition demonstrations, they are briefed by police about their mission a night before. They are given facilitation, equipment and fuel. Then they drive under the protection of police patrols to the targeted area.
The same source said if the demonstration is anticipated to be big, they summon more of their members for reinforcement at either the Constitution Square or any police station and they are transported to strategic places.
He said during demonstrations, the police are supposed to surround the principals or top Opposition leaders as the group members occupy the outer ring of the crowd and unleash violence on them, blind them with pepper spray and disperse anyone attempting to crowd around the Opposition leaders.

Mr Mayanja and his group sometimes carry out arrests and bundle their victims into a Toyota Noah, whose number plates are often changed depending on their operations. Then they flee the scene.
Sometimes the group uses registration number plates UAT 018Q or UAN 460N on their vehicles.
Saturday Monitor has established that UAT 018Q number is registered by Uganda Revenue Authority in the names of Mathew Odhiambo Owor, while UAN 460N is registered in the names of Bangladesh Consulate.

The Bangladesh Consul General, Mr Mahmood Mansurah, could not be reached for a comment but an official, who identified herself as Sheila at the Consulate, said she was not aware of any of their vehicles with private number plates.
“The only number plates the officials use are red in colour or start with letters C and D,” she said.
Saturday Monitor was unable to speak to Mr Odhiambo on whether he owns the vehicle the masked men use in their operations.
The URA spokesperson, Ms Sarah Banage, responding to our email declined to reveal the registered owners of the vehicles. She said URA policy doesn’t allow such disclosure, but she added that an investigation had already started to establish why the owner of the said Noah switches the number plates.
“After verification and investigations of the case, we shall be able to get back to you,” she said.

Police sources say the number plates used in the operations are plucked from vehicles impounded for different offences. This makes tracing the actual owner of the vehicle after the brutal operations extremely difficult. If victims crosscheck with the police, they will be led to vehicles that are already grounded at the police parking lot over criminal offences.
The Team No Sleep’s atrocious operations came to light after publication of graphic images of them beating up people using electric wires on Kampala Road when Dr Besigye visited Crane Bank recently. Aware of their heinous intentions and need for concealment, they came with masks.

At that time, Kampala Metropolitan Police commander, Mr Abbas Byakagaba, quickly distanced himself and his officers from the group’s actions. He ordered an investigation into the group.
They abandoned their base near Kampala Central Police Station for some weeks. Mr Ddamba and his colleagues retreated to their original base at Kisansa Stage near Old Taxi Park in the city centre, where they used to operate during the Utoda era.
However, after Mr Byakagaba’s investigations failed to yield any fruit, they gradually returned to Kampala CPS. They now park their Toyota Noah a few metres away from the main station.

Police command chain disrupted

Several police commanders that Saturday Monitor talked to said they don’t want to see such a group in their operations since they often aggravate situations rather than contain the volatility.
One city police commander said since the group reports to and is deployed by his superiors at police headquarters, junior officers cannot stop them.

The officer said the group often comes up with fake intelligence information about the Opposition in order to justify their operations and get financial facilitation.
The officer cited an incident before the presidential campaigns when the notorious group came up with information that the Go-Forward candidate, Mr Amama Mbabazi, was going to Mandela National Stadium Namboole to watch the Uganda Cranes match and asked for fuel and facilitation to block him.

He said the then Kampala Metropolitan Police Commander, Mr Haruna Isabirye (pictured), learnt of their scheme later and asked them how they could go into the operation without informing him. But Mr Isabirye was told that they were acting upon directives from police headquarters.
The police commander said Mr Isabirye cancelled their operation and told them that any instructions from police headquarters must go through him and trickle down to any officer under his command.
The police commander further said the only option several commanders have now is to be at the scene to stop the groups from hijacking the operations.

On the day the group unleashed terror on Dr Besigye’s supporters on Kampala Road, Mr Byakagaba, who insists on chain of command, watched on television in the evening as gangsters terrorised civilians and cyclists as his officers looked on unbothered.
His attempts to take action against the group failed.
Mr Mayanja said the group has now extended their operations to private and public events, including weddings, night clubs and carrying out evictions. It is not over yet.

Victim speaks out

Ms Doreen Nyanjura, Makerere University councillor in KCCA, who was once bundled in the masked men’s van, said inside the vehicle, the men blind them with pepper, then sit on them as others fondle them.
“They groped several parts of my body as they verbally abused me. After the assault, they dumped us at Kira Road Police Station,” Ms Nyanjura said.
She said before the masked men dump the victims at police stations, they ensure they have strained the fingers or arms of their victims after holding them in stressful positions.

Mr Enanga said if any such incidents happened inside the van, the victims should have reported to police. But the victims scoffed at Mr Enanga’s remarks as a mockery. They say it would be like reporting the assailant to his sponsor and naively expect justice.
Saturday Monitor efforts to reach the Inspector General of Police, Gen. Kale Kayihura, for a comment on the funding and operations of the group and its connection to his office were futile. Repeated telephone calls to his official mobile phone went unanswered for a week while his private number indicated that it no longer exists.

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