The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Renowned Uganda Cranes fan, Jackson Ssewanyana alias Uncle Money is in trouble in connection to the death of Siraje Hakim Tumusiime.
He is accused of clobbering to death Tumusiime, a mechanic at Munaku-Lubya, Rubaga Division, in Kampala on August 16, 2019. Ssewanyana is locked up at Old Kampala Police Station following his arrest two days ago.
Patrick Onyango, the Kampala Metropolitan Police Spokesperson, confirmed Ssewanyana’s arrest, saying he is being questioned to establish his role in Tumusiime’s death. According to Onyango, the deceased’s relatives insist that he was thumped to death by Ssewanyana and his group.
Onyango explains that the deceased’s wife, Mariam Nazalwe and mother, Beatrice Kabatooro claim that Ssewanyana grabbed Tumusiime by the neck and threw him down accusing him of stealing his valuables.
He says Nazalwe and Kabatooro told police that as Tumusiime tried to explain his innocence, a about six other people joined Ssewanyana and used all sorts of objects among others stones, sticks and metals to beat him to death.
Officers from Lubya police Station and Old Kampala picked up Tumusiime’s body from the crime scene. The Old Kampala Division Police Commander- DPC Edrisa Kyeyune assigned detectives to probe the crime. It was when investigators arrived at Ssewanyana being the architect of Tumusiime’s death.
He was thus arrested and locked up as police hunt for his accomplices. Ssewanyana, also a resident of Munaku-Lubya, is being held on several charges among others murder. Onyango has warned people against mob action, saying many innocent people have lost their lives at the hands of people carrying the law in their hands.
The 2018 criminal investigations records-CID show there was an increase in cases of people killed through mob action. At least 656 were killed last year through mob justice compared to 619 victims recorded in 2017.
CID indicated that searching for perpetrators of mob justice was a hard nut to crack since only 96 cases were fully investigated and taken to court. Killings by mob action were highest in Albertine region, which registered 45 cases followed by Busoga East with 41 cases.
Other regions that had relatively high cases include Kampala Metropolitan South region with 39 cases, North Kyoga with 38 cases, West Nile and Rwizi with 35 cases each, KMP North and KMP East with 33 cases each, Wamala with 31 cases, Savannah had 30 cases and Kigezi with 29 cases.
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