Isah Ssemogerere, the Savannah Regional Police Spokesperson, says that they picked up seven suspects but the evidence implicated the suspects including the Chairperson.
The LC 1 Chairperson of Kalongo Miti zone
in
Luwero town council, two members of his executive, and a resident are in police
custody of the death of a suspected
motorbike thief.
The suspects are Isaac Nanzuuka the LC 1 Chairman, Henry Nyanzi, the defense secretary, Robert Ssembatya the
Publicity secretary, and Haruna Musisi, all residents of Kalongo Miti zone in Luwero town council
They are accused of participating in mob justice
and killing Kenneth Matovu,
25, a resident of the same zone on December 21, 2021. Angry residents descended
on Matovu and burnt him to
death on allegation
accusation of being part of the thieves
who had stolen a motorcycle
belonging to Hamis Muwonge, also a resident of the
area.
The deceased’s
mother, Marion Naiga alleges
that the LC I Chairperson and other residents arrested Matovu at night on
his way home and pressed him to reveal the
whereabouts of the stolen motorcycle
in vain. He denied his involvement in the theft
of the motorcycle.
Naiga says that the group led by Nanzuuka beat Matovu before torching his body ablaze. Police
picked up the suspects on Friday two weeks after the mob action and locked them up at Luwero
Central Police Station. Isah
Ssemogerere, the
Savannah Regional Police Spokesperson,
says that they picked up seven suspects but the evidence implicated the suspects including
the Chairperson.
He says that police have preferred charges of murder against the four
suspects and dispatched their file
to the State Attorney
for sanctioning before they arraign them in court. However,
Nanzuuka has distanced himself from
the mob action, saying he alerted Police, which arrived long after Matovu
had been killed.
According
to the Annual Police Crime report for 2020, at least 12 people were killed in mob
justice whereas 19 and 17 were killed
in 2019 and
2018 respectively in
Luwero district. The
district is ranked the sixth position with high cases across the country. The majority of the victims of mob Justice are accused of theft, witchcraft, and burglary among others.
