Mugarura: A conman who targets big shots

The caller said he had called him seeking to employ a Mike Mugarura.

But Gen Saleh insisted that he did not know the matter, prompting a police investigation.

Consequently, Mugarura, alias Baguma, was arrested. He admitted to police officers to having impersonated Gen Saleh and calling the South Sudanese official to employ him.

Mugarura, then 21 years old, was paraded before journalists at Kampala Central Police Station and showed no remorse.

Asked whether he regrets his acts, he responded: “I don’t. When I am released from prison, I will do the same to ignorant people.”

Mugarura is now on remand over similar offences of obtaining money by false pretence and fraud. This is the seventh time he has been arrested over fraud and impersonation in 14 years.

Mugarura is accused of being a prime suspect in the telephone scams in which he and others stole their victims’ digital passwords before illegally withdrawing money from their mobile accounts.

Police spokesperson Fred Enanga said Mugarura targeted their officers in the directorate of forensic services after impersonating the Director of Criminal Investigations Assistant Inspector General of Police, Mr Tom Magambo, on July 31.

“The prime suspect together with four others namely; Moses Eletu, Arim Rifad, Patrick Mwebembezi, and Demick Rwothomia acquired a Uganda Telecom landline, 0414673797, and MTN line, 0776318856, and called the scene of crime officers telling them that they had been selected for training courses in the UK, US, and South Africa,” he said.

“The suspects demanded money to process their travel documents.  The officers paid but later realised that it was a scam,” Mr Enanga said.

Following the incident, the police employed its experts to identify and arrest the suspects.

Mr Enanga said the suspects had left a lot of evidence, which the detectives used to track down Mugarura and his accomplices.

When Mugarura was arrested, they checked the records and established that he had more than 50 old criminal files in which he impersonated people.

Mr Enanga said Mugarura impersonated Gen Salim Saleh, Maj Gen (Rtd) Kahinda Otafiire, Col (Rtd) Dr Kizza Besigye, Prof Ogenga Latigo, the Commissioner General of Prisons, Dr Johnson Byabashaija, and the late Bank of Uganda Governor Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile.

Others are Mr Sam Kutesa (former Foreign Affairs minister), Mr Patrick Bitature (businessman), Al-Hajji Moses Kigongo (vice chairman of National Resistance Movement), and Mr Robert Kabushenga (former chief executive officer of Vision Group).

In  2009,  Mugarura impersonated Gen Saleh and called Gen Kale Kayihura, the then Inspector General of Police, whom he ordered to release a bus that was involved in an accident in the northern region.

Gen Kayihura obliged and ordered the district police commander to release the bus. 

However, it was later discovered that it was not Gen Saleh who had issued the order. 

Mugarura went into hiding when Gen Kayihura started hunting for him.

In October 2010, he returned to his scams.

The then deputy police spokesperson, Mr Vincent Ssekatte, said Mugarura impersonated President Museveni to recommend 27 people to join the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA).

Upon getting information that he was back to his crime, police hunted him again.

Mugarura also attempted to defraud a head teacher in Soroti District after posing as John Mary Agaba, who was the Commissioner for Secondary Education in the Ministry of Education and Sports.

Police officers arrested and detained him at Central Police Station Kampala for three days.

Despite being in custody, Mugarura worked with his colleagues and convinced Mr James Katushabe, the then officer-in-charge of the station, to grant him a police bond on a Sunday.

This angered Gen Kayihura, who ordered Mr Katushabe to re-arrest Mugarura.

The then spokesperson of the Ministry of Education, Mr Aggrey Kibenge, expressed his disappointment about the release of the suspect.

“We expect the police to handle such criminals but they have disappointed us. This fellow (Baguma) could have bribed his way out like he has done in the past but we are going to follow it up,” Mr Kibenge said then.

Mugarura, who had pledged to answer his bond the next day, didn’t turn up, putting Mr Katushabe in trouble.

On October 5, 2010, officers from the Police Professional Standards Unit stormed Mr Katushabe’s office at CPS Kampala and arrested him for releasing a suspect without authorisation from his superiors.

Mugarura told Daily Monitor then in a telephone interview that he had left the country for Kigali, Rwanda.

He kept a low profile until last month when he disguised as AIGP Magambo and defrauded police officers.

On August 13, Mugarura appeared before Buganda Road Grade One Magistrate Asuman Muhumuza, who charged him with conspiracy and six counts of impersonation before remanding him to prison. He denied the charges.

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