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Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | A new wave of crime involving minor offenders in Nakawa and parts of Northern Kampala has forced local authorities to register residents in an effort to combat criminality in the area.
According to available information, the criminal gangs of minors aged between 9 -16 years move in groups of five to seven targeting people with money and other valuables returning home.
The gang is a replica of the famous Kifeesi, which terrorized Kampala and metropolitan areas in the past.
The stories of the victims show that the gangs mostly operate in Nakawa, Kitintale, Luzira, Mutungo Kasokoso, Kireka and Banda areas between 7:00 pm-9:00 pm.
The gang members wear black tracksuits and are often armed with rudimentary weapons like pavers, iron bar and knives.
The gangs have staged more than 20 attacks since the January 14th, 2021 presidential elections on various roads, according to records at Jinja Road Police.
This prompted the local authorities and security officials to hold an emergency security meeting at Kitintale Market to chat a way forward to put an end to the activities of the gangs.
Some of the leaders who participated in the meeting are Nakawa Resident City Commissioner Anderson Burora, the newly elected Nakawa Division Mayor, Paul Mugambe, the Outgoing Mayor, Ronald Balimwezo, the Jinja Road Police Division Commander, Robert Katulamu and area chairpersons.
According to Burora, during the meeting they resolved that zone chairpersons register known residents and Boda boda operators before they embark on covert and non-covert operations to burst the gangs.
However, some residents claim that most of the criminal gangs operate with the protection of some police officers who earn from their operations.
Charles Teno, one of the victims of the gangs, says that he surrounded by a group of youngsters one evening as he was heading home in Mutungo. The gang beat him and varnished with his possessions.
According to the 2019 crime report, police dismantled ten criminal groups, arrested their members and arraigned them in court. In 2018, 18 criminal gangs were dismantled within Kampala Metropolitan areas.
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