Kampala, Uganda | By Michael Wandati | Business magnate Hajji Suleiman Mafabi Lumolo has confirmed to investigators that the recent robbery at his Muyenga residence in Kampala, orchestrated by five police officers from Nsambya Police Station, resulted not only in the loss of his wife’s Shs 41 million but also in the theft of Shs 2.2 billion that belonged to him. In connection with the incident, a dozen suspects have been apprehended.
On December 5, 2023, Ambassador Barbra Oundo Nekesa, who was alone at home, faced an attack by four men identified as police officers Dominic Idro, Rogers Nuwagaba, Sharif Mugoya, and Edgar Arinda. The Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) found that these attackers were invited by counterterrorism policeman Michael Wango, who had been guarding the residence for the past one and a half months.
Wango, aware of the significant sums of money kept in the residence by Nekesa and Mafabi, played a crucial role in facilitating the robbery. He disconnected the electricity on the razor fence, altered the direction of CCTV cameras to avoid detection, and switched off lights in a corner of the perimeter wall, enabling the four police officers to scale it. Wango even agreed to fake minor injuries to disguise the incident as a robbery by strangers, according to CID detectives.
“Wango also switched off the lights in one of the corners of the perimeter wall on which the four police officers scaled. He agreed with his colleague to inflict minor injuries on him to disguise it as a robbery by strangers,” stated CID detectives in the report.
Once inside, Arinda, Idro, Nuwagaba, and Mugoya attacked the maids in the boy’s quarters, coercing them to open the main house. At gunpoint, the maids led the officers to Nekesa’s bedroom, where the assailants demanded money. The group then packed the money into five bags and took an iPhone before transporting the stolen funds into a banana plantation, where a bodaboda rider named Josh Kalinda awaited them.
“While inside, the group packed the money in five bags and also took an iPhone. They afterwards took the money into the banana plantation where a bodaboda rider Josh Kalinda was waiting for them,” investigators said.
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During their more than 10-hour presence in the compound, the assailants took the DVR for the CCTV cameras upon leaving to erase any evidence of their actions. Initially reporting the theft of Shs 41 million, Ambassador Nekesa later discovered, upon her husband Mafabi’s return, that Shs 2.2 billion had also been stolen. Forensic analysis of two guns supposedly used by the robbers revealed fingerprints belonging to Wango, who confessed after interrogation.
Police spokesperson Fred Enanga disclosed that the stolen money was taken to Nsambya police barracks and distributed among the perpetrators, with Wango receiving Shs 200 million, Kalinda Shs 20 million, and Mugoya Shs 230 million.
Additional suspects, including Samuel Opio, Patrick Aponyo, Matia Lulangwa, Pallaso, and Masembe, were arrested when found sharing money from a sack containing some of the stolen funds, bringing the total number of detainees to 12.
