BOYS and the CITY (fwd)
newvision:
Since the end of June 2003, more than 10 people have been stabbed in robberies around the city. Compared to the early months of the year, relative insecurity seems to be returning to Kampala, as robbers change tactics writes Joshua Kato
REPORTS of people who have been robbed on knife or panga point are increasing. Thugs using stones to break into houses and street mugging are also common.
According to police, there is also a new system of stealing cars.
Robbers no longer use guns to rob but drive away cars from their
parking lots.
Police report that 15 cars were stolen in such a manner during the last two weeks. This was the highest number of stolen cars in a single week since October 2002.
Car robberies had gone down to two or three a week. In fact, police statistics show that only 35 cars were robbed between January and June this year, when crime seemed to be ebbing.
?The thugs first study their victim for a long time. They even get time to study the key locks of the car, forge the keys, before driving away with the vehicle,? Moses Sakira Kampala CID chief says. Police says that vehicle owners should be careful with where they park and have their vehicles washed.
Ambushing people near automated teller machines (ATMs)is now becoming more common. This happens mainly at night. The thugs tactifully take positions away from the ATMs and observe each and every person there.
Thereafter, they follow the target along the street. Then they pounce when the target enters a poorly lit area.
Tom Bamuhiire of Uganda Television was beaten into a coma by such thugs. He drew money from the ATM at Barclays bank at night. He did not know that thugs were following him. They beat him up to near death, before dumping his body in the rubbish bin.
Another victim had drawn money from the Crane Bank ATM at tourist Hotel, when he was beaten up.
The two are just a portion of the victims of violent crime in the city. Several streets of the city are infested and virtually controlled by gangs for the best part of the night. Entebbe road area remains one of the most dangerous spots in the city.
According to police, gangs ambush early morning pedestrians, beat them up before disappearing with their valuables. ?They use an under ground sewerage tunnel for cover,? Francis Okello in charge CPS says.
The gang that operates around Entebbe road has got its bases in nearby suburbs of Kisenyi. It is made up of youth and young men, who are said to spend most of the day playing pool and watching movies in the various video halls in the area. They take drugs in broad day light.
Nakulabye area is another haven for pangmen. According to residents of a zone called Kiyaye (because of the amount of drugs sold there), pangamen spend most of the day smoking drugs and sharpening their pangs.
Police has arrested several of them on different occasions, but ? It is such a big group that it will take a much bigger police operation to do away with it,? a resident of Nakulabye says.
The gang that operates around Bombo road, Kissekka market and Hotel Equatoria comes from Makerere Kivulu. According to a news vendor opposite Equatoria, this group is led by a youngman nicknamed Bin Laden. ?He has grown up on the streets of Kampala. I came here in 1992 and found him on the streets. He is now a man and leading a killer gang,? the vendor says.
The group is an off shoot of the notorious Black, who died in police custody at the height of the robberies last year. Most residents of Kivulu know the gang.
On July 24, police nabbed four members of the Makerere-Kivulu, Kawempe group. The four where found with hammers and crow bars used for breaking into houses.
Ben Kiwanuka, parts of Market street and Luwum street are also infested by the gangs. ? Some of these target farmers going to sell their produce in the various markets and early morning travelers who are going catch early morning buses,? Moses Sakira says.
Then there is a group that moves on stolen boda-boda (motor-bikes), says Benson Nyeko, Kampala police chief, who adds that this group uses the bikes to get away, after stealing.
Livingstone Ziwa, chairman of the city traders association adds that some of the thugs use special hire taxis that do not have the official stripes on them to get away
The gangs are smarter in dressing than the average old mugger. Some of them carry newspapers under which they hide the knives and the mobile phone is the main medium of communication.
But they also use hand signals. ?A raised thumb means that the target is real, while a lowered finger means that the target has aborted. Two raised fingers means two targets and if they are followed with a lowered thumb finger, it means that they should be left alone.
Police says smoking drugs gives the gangs the courage they need to carry out their heinous acts.
Police has scored some success in trying to apprehend these gangs. On July 24, police carried out an operation in which 73 suspects were nabbed. Some of them were found with knives and crow bars, the two main weapons used by street gangs.
Police has for some time now been complaining about unlit areas of the city. KCC is now working on street lighting.
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bwanika
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