Driver, conductor linked to taxi robberies arrested

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Two suspected members of “Nwezamu” criminal gang that is behind taxi robberies along the Northern bypass have finally been arrested after a two-month’s hunt. The suspects are Shafick Kasita, the driver of omnibus taxi registration number UBA 913F and his conductor Ismah Mulindwa, whose criminal gang operates in Busega, Namungoona, Bwaise, Kalerwe, and Kyebando up to Namboole stadium.

The dou was picked up in a joint security operation following a robbery attack on Hadijah Nasejje, a resident of Kireka in Kira municipality in Wakiso district on July 01, 2022. Nasejje was robbed in broad daylight along the Northern bypass while heading to work in Kisaasi. According to Nasejje, on the said day, she sat in the passenger seat but before reaching the Kisaasi flyover where she was meant to disembark from, the conductor opened the door from outside with an intention of dropping her down.

“The taxi was running at a very high speed, and the man opened the door once for me to fall down. …..the driver stopped immediately and they snatched my bag and ordered me out or they would harm me,” Nasejje narrates. But to her shock, all the other passengers in the taxi including both women and men looked unbothered as the crime went on.

She registered a case of theft at Butikirwa police post on the northern bypass. Nasejje explains that after a few days, the same thugs started calling people using her phone numbers asking them to help her with money, claiming that she had been arrested because of some fraudulent activities she was involved in.

“Several people were conned using my line, it’s when a colleague of mine connected me to some intelligence officers in Crime Intelligence and Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence-CMI. I had to pay them some amount of money I can’t say, and they reinforced tracing the taxi until it was located in Zaana at Entebbe road on September 4th, 2022 and it was eventually impounded,” Nasejje said.

She says that police conducted a search in the suspects homes over the weekend where they recovered her phone.

The victim who was found at Kira-Division Police waiting to meet the taxi owner, said there is a need to tighten security along the sections of Northern bypass, where unsuspecting passengers are being terrorized on daily basis.

Police spokesperson Fred Enanga says Nasejje’s attack is among many other incidents that have been registered along the same road. He said ever since police started hunting for the suspects, a number of them have been arrested and the hunt is on for their ringleader only identified as “black”.

“Those criminals disguise as passengers, now what is interesting is that among those criminals include women, the victims are being attacked and in many cases, they force victims to surrender all their belongings, such as mobile phones, ATM cards, and they ask you to reveal your pin numbers, then withdraw the money, but several have been apprehended in the past,” Enanga said.

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