Airtime dealer shot by unknown assailants
Aug 05, 2014
AN airtime dealer was shot and injured by unknown armed assailants in Kawempe division, making off with an unspecified amount of money among others
By Steven Candia
AN airtime dealer was on Monday night shot and injured by unknown armed assailants in Kawempe division, making off with an unspecified amount of money among others.
Police said Tony Mubiru, 27 and a resident of Katooke was shot at about 10:40pm in a scuffle that ensued after being accosted by the assailant who were riding on a motorcycle.
“Apparently they had been trailing him from Ndeeba, Bakuli and Nansaana before catching up with him at Katooke,” Kawempe police boss Patrick Alinyo said on Tuesday.
At the time, police said, Mubiru was on his to make the last delivery of the day, having made other deliveries earlier in the day and picking the days sales from several agents in the city.
At the time the incident happened, Alinyo said, Mubiru had parked by the road side and was making the remaining distance on foot when he was confronted by the thugs.
One of the thugs, police said, tried to grab a bag from Mubiru but met resistance, prompting the other to shoot him in the leg. They then fled with the bag.
“We do not know how much they fled with in terms of air time and money,” Alinyo said adding that Mubiru was rushed and admitted to Mulago hospital. No arrests had been made though police said they were investigating the matter.
However, Alinyo used the incident to caution members of public from moving with huge amounts of money in the night.
“How can we guarantee your security when you move with huge amounts of money at such time? Please if you have large volumes of cash please leave it in the shop instead of moving around with it,” he said.
But this is not the first time a dealer in airtime of mobile money is shot in the city. Last year in May unknown gunmen shot dead Kayita Kitanda, 35, a mobile money agent at Yesu Amala in Nansana, a Kampala suburb and made off with sh16m.
Kayita was shot at the doorstep of his home at around 11pm, making him the fifth mobile money dealer to be killed last year.
Attacks on betting, mobile money and airtime agents has surged due to the fact that they keep large sums of money but have inadequate security.
Most agents often collect the proceeds in the evening when banks have already closed and keep the money in their houses or shops.
Last year, gunmen attacked agents in Bukoto, Kisaasi and Kamwokya suburbs in Kampala, which are hubs for sports betting and mobile money.
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