Minister Otafiire bothered by robberies of ‘men in uniform’ at roadblocks

KAMPALA, UGANDA: The minister for Internal Affairs Maj Gen Kahinda Otafiire has said that illegal roadblocks mounted by men in uniform are now a bother to the authorities.

A number of robberies by gun-wielding men dressed in the army and sometimes police uniforms have been reported in recent months from different parts of the country. Such incidents have been reported along the Kampala-Gulu highway, especially at Migadde, Matugga and Kiryowa villages and the Kampala-Masaka road in the areas of Kyengera, Maya and Nsangi.

Such cases have also been reported along the Kampala-Mityana-Mubende highway where robbers erect roadblocks at Buloba and Myanzi. But the minister says that the government is trying to establish whether these are isolated cases or the work of an organised gang.

“We heard about it. We do not know whether it is just ordinary crime or organised crime or something else. They are snap roadblocks. You can’t stop criminals from coming on the roads for 20 or 30 minutes,” Otafiire said, adding that they are equally bothered that attackers were targeting police officers without a clear motive.

Otafiire added that he has instructed the director of crime intelligence Brig Gen Chris Damulira and CID director Tom Magambo to investigate and provide substantive information about the incident.

Police spokesperson Fred Enanga said the Buwama attackers disguised as men who were accompanying women carrying grass but abruptly pounced on counterterrorism officers deployed to guard the Equator.

He added that, unlike in Luweero where the machete-wielding attackers succeeded in taking two guns and killing one police officer, the officers in Buwama were alert and fired bullets that forced the thugs to flee.

Enanga has identified officers who were attacked and injured in the Buwama incident as constables Lawrence Otim and Paul Nkolo. These are from counterterrorism guarding the Equator at Kayabwe, Buwama town council, Mpigi district.