A Local Defence Unit –LDU deserter and a witchdoctor are to be arraigned
in the Court Martial for allegedly stealing police. Hakim Magumba, who deserted
the LDU force over a year ago, is accused of stealing a gun from Police
Constable Richard Omara.
Constable Omara, who is attached to Iganga police station, was recently waylaid
when he was going for his guard duty at Chief Magistrate’s home.
Police Spokesperson, Fred Enanga, said investigations pointed at
Magumba and indeed their suspicion came true when he was found at a witchdoctor’s
home with the same gun.
Magumba was found at the shrine belonging to, Abbas Dolimara, in Bweyegura
village, in Iganga district. Since Magumba is an LDU deserter who has been on the
wanted list, he will be arraigned in court alongside Dolimara.
“Our territorial police in Iganga have managed to arrest two suspects for
stealing our gun from Richard Omara who is attached to Iganga police station.
PC Omara was going for guard duty at Chief Magistrate’s home but his gun was
stolen. We arrested Hakim Magumba who is an LDU deserter and Dolimara Abbas who
is traditional herbalist,” Enanga said.
//cue in “our territorial…
Cue out “…processed there”//
It is not the first time thugs have stolen guns from policemen. Last year a
policeman in Bukwo district lost a gun to thugs that stabbed him. Constable
Walter Opio was rushed to Mbale hospital in a critical condition. Opio was
attacked while at Alalam police post. The attackers raided police post riding a
motorcycle at around 7 pm.
Joint security operations led to the recovery of 137 guns and 1,048 bullets in
2019. The guns had been stolen from police officers, soldiers and private
security guards. A number of the recovered guns had been used to terrorise
mobile money operators in different parts of the country even though Kampala,
Wakiso and Mukono had the highest number of such incidents.
Joseph Kato is currently a Master's candidate at Makerere University. He holds a Bachelors Degree in Mass Communication from Kampala International University, a Diploma in Journalism and he's also a graduate in Guidance and Counseling.
