KAMPALA – Police have arrested renowned Uganda Cranes fan Jackson Ssewanyana, aka Uncle Money, for allegedly masterminding the lynching of a man over theft.
Kampala Metropolitan Police Spokesperson Patrick Onyango said Uncle Money was arrested on Monday after several people pinpointed him for leading mob action against Siraje Hakim Tumusiime, a mechanic at Munaku-Lubya, Rubaga Division, whom he accused of stealing his property on August 16, 2019.
According to Mr Onyango, the deceased’s wife, Mariam Nazalwe and mother Beatrice Kabatooro pointed to Uncle Money for participating in the killing of Tumusiime.
He said Nazalwe and Kabatooro told police that as Tumusiime tried to explain his innocence, about six other people joined Ssewanyana and used all sorts of objects, among others stones, sticks and metals to beat him to death.
Ssewanyana is locked up at Old Kampala Police Station as police hunt for his accomplices in the murder.
Mr 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.
A countrywide report by Criminal Investigations Directorate compiled from January 1 to February 20 this year shows a total of 41 cases of mob action were reported to police, with 42 victims lynched and four people survived with grave injuries.
Bishop Alfred Acur of West Lango Diocese said the current generation of young people has become a social problem because of failure by parents to train their children when they are still young.
