Well, what can we say, except so typical? Museveni loves employing petty
thieves, swindlers, and murderers who owe their good fortune to him
alone. And judging by the fate of other disgraced NRM hatchetmen, you
haven't heard the last of this arrogant sycophant.
Simon Nume wrote:
Ofwono Opondo in shoplifting scandal
By Simon Kasyate
KAMPALA — The Director of Information at the Movement Secretariat, Mr
Ofwono Opondo, was on Saturday fined for suspected shoplifting.
Sources at Uchumi Supermarket told The Monitor yesterday that security
personnel at Garden City Mall stopped Opondo in the parking lot after
he had walked off with undeclared underwear and a pen.
Opondo, also the spokesman of the National Resistance Movement, has
denied the shoplifting charges, although he has admitted that he was
involved in a small incident at the store.
Sources at the supermarket said Opondo arrived at the store at 11:30
a.m. and bought a bottle of mineral water. After paying, the source
said, he found his way back to the shopping floor.
“He moved around and went to the stall for underwear, picked one and
put it in his trouser pocket,” said a security officer who was
monitoring the shoppers. “He then moved round again and stopped at a
stall f or pens where he picked one and placed it in his shirt pocket.”
When he was through, Opondo allegedly strode out and headed for the
parking lot.
Security personnel followed and got him. They reportedly told him that
he had undeclared and unpaid for items from the store.
An officer said, a visibly shocked and embarrassed Opondo obliged and
was escorted to Garden City’s security office.
“He was asked to make a statement which he did using a different name
and asked to pay the fine,” said another security officer at Garden
City who preferred anonymity.
“But before writing the statement, he was searched and found to be
armed; this raised suspicion,” the security officer added.
Opondo reportedly did not reveal his exact identity until his identity
card was found on him.
“Another colleague walked in at that time and said he knew this man
from the newspapers and he had just been on Capital Gang,” said the
security officer.
Opondo is a panelist on the Capital Radio talk-show which is aired
every Saturday morning. He was, however, not on the show on Saturday.
The security officer added that Opondo pleaded with management and the
Chief Security Officer on duty, Mr Eliab Bigambwa, to allow him use a
different name and keep quiet about the incident.
He reportedly recorded his statement under the name John Okello.
The Monitor was unable to get a comment from Bigambwa.
In the statement, Opondo reportedly claimed it was an oversight not to
pay for the items.
He was handed a fine, calculated at ten times the cost price of the
item shoplifted.
The underwear costs Shs13,100 while the pen costs Shs3,000.
“He was asked to pay Shs131,000, which he did by pulling out three new
Shs50,000 notes and he immediately walked out without even waiting for
the balance,” said a security officer who was present.
It was not clear why he was not billed the fine for the pen which
would have increased the figure by S hs 30,000.
Opondo confirmed to The Monitor that he had indeed been at Uchumi on
Saturday, but he denied the shoplifting claims. “Yes I was there and I
did my routine shopping,” he said. “I went past the register
inadvertently with a Bic pen which was in my shirt pocket, but I
didn’t get out of the building. I was called back and we sorted the
matter.”
Opondo added: “I have no guilt about forgetting to pay for such small
items.”
The Uchumi management neither confirmed nor denied the incident.
“We get shoplifters everyday, but our interest is not who they are in
society,” said an official who declined to be named. “Our interest is
to recover the goods and have the fine paid.”
Pressed hard on the details around the incident involving Opondo, the
officer replied, “No comment.”
When asked if they registered a shoplifter under the names of John
Okello, the officer said: “That was an internal matter that we
resolved. Whether or not we were cheated on name , that is not our
interest since the goods were recovered and the fine paid.”
According to Uchumi’s policy, a person apprehended for shoplifting is
charged a fine ten times the cost of the items. The lifted items are
retained by the store.
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