KAMPALA- The boda-boda riders in Makindye Ssabagab in Wakiso district have set the office of chairman on fire accusing him of an alleged involvement in a boda-boda rider’s death and set his office on fire.
The Assistant Superintendent of Police-ASP Luke Owoyesigyire, the Kampala Metropolitan Deputy Police Spokesperson, has identified the victim as Sowedi Kyagombwa, the chairperson of Katale zone in Makindye Ssabagabo, was attacked this Wednesday.
It is alleged that Kyagombwa’s problems started last night when unknown thugs waylaid Tony Megade a boda-boda rider in the same areas and stabbed him to death, and vanished with an unknown amount of money and other belongings.
But his wife Jane Namubiru, raised an alarm that attracted the attention of neighbours. Following the murder, police arrested five suspects. However, one of the suspects denied involvement and sought the intervention of the Local Council Chairman, Kyagombwa, who pleaded for his release.
However, upon learning of the arrest and subsequent release of the suspect with the chairman’s intervention, some locals, enraged by the murder of their boda-boda colleague, jumped to the conclusion that Chairman Kyagombwa was implicated in the crime.
“They took matters into their own hands and set the offices on fire of the chairman, police responded swiftly, rescued the chairman, and extinguished the fire before it could cause significant damage. We urge the public to remain calm as investigations into the motive behind the murder and the involvement of all individuals continue.” said Owoyesigyire.
Police say that a hunt has been launched for all the people who participated in the actions of mob justice.
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Bosco Buziba, Chairperson of Boda-boda riders in Wakiso district, strongly condemned the mob justice actions among riders, saying it perpetuates a negative image of them as criminals.
“It is wrong for boda-boda riders to always assume all people arrested are criminals,” Buziba stated. “You can’t attack an LCI chairperson based on mere accusations. Perhaps the chairperson knew the suspect personally and he was right to defend his innocence. Such actions harm our reputation, portraying us as lawless. Buziba said”
This is not an isolated case, as evidenced by a 2021 incident where several boda-boda riders were arrested for brutally killing a former United Nations employee. The riders had accused the victim of knocking down one of their colleagues in a traffic accident in Mengo, and took the law into their own hands, beating him to death.
