"The raid on two mobile money shops owned by David Karuhanga and Bruno Tayebwa resulted in the theft of over 3 million shillings." Patrick Onyango, city police spokesman
Police in Kawempe are hunting for unknown armed
assailants who raided two mobile money shops in Kawempe Division over the
weekend, making off with 3 million shillings.
Armed assailants targeted two mobile money shops in
Kanyanya, owned by David Karuhanga and Bruno Tayebwa, at around 10:00 pm on
Friday. According to Patrick Onyango, the Kampala Metropolitan Police
Spokesperson, the raid resulted in the theft of over 3 million shillings.
Preliminary police investigations have revealed that
the three assailants initially targeted David Karuhanga's shop, where they
assaulted him, kicked him, and stole approximately 400,000 shillings. The
assailants then proceeded to Bruno Tayebwa's adjacent shop, where they held him
at gunpoint and made off with an additional 3 million shillings.
“There were three men armed with pistols, who entered
the shop of Tayebwa, put him and his wife on gun point, and they surrendered
all the cash they had made, the thugs made off with the cash and four phones, before
our arrival," Onyango said.
According to Patrick Onyango, despite bystanders'
attempts to intervene and foil the robbery, the assailants fired warning shots
into the air, dispersing the crowd and enabling them to escape with the stolen
cash.
//Cue in; “They fired…
Cue out... bullets in the air.”//
Police have since launched a manhunt for the assailants who are still at large.
”We documented the crime scene and recovered some bullet projectiles and
inquires are ongoing. We appeal to members of the general public who could help
us with any information to reach out to us,” Onyango noted.
The mobile money robbery in Kawempe bears similarities to last year's robbery and murder in Ntinda-Kiwatule, where the brother of
Kampala's Deputy Lord Mayor, Doreen Nyanjura Albert Tugume, was fatally shot
and robbed of his cash. Tugume 33-year-old together with a boda-boda rider Barnabas Sabiti
30 years old, were killed by armed thugs moving on a motorcycle on 21 November 2024.
Tugume was killed while preparing to close his mobile money shop.