Big crimes, small crimes: The Police paradox
The real question, therefore, is not whether the Police can solve complex crimes, but why that same investigative capacity is not consistently felt by ordinary citizens confronting everyday crime.
David Mukholi. (File)
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OPINION
On August 3, nine people were found guilty of the kidnapping and murder of Susan Magara, who worked at Bwendero Dairy, a family business. The nine are: Yusuf Lubega, Mahad Kisalita, Ismail Bukenya, Muzamir Ssali, Abubarkar Kyewolwa, Hassan Wasswa, Abbas Musa Buvumba, Hussien Kato Miiro and Hajara Nakandi. They were convicted after the judge ruled that the prosecution, through evidence from 45 witnesses, had proved beyond reasonable doubt that they had kidnapped and murdered Magara.
Magara was kidnapped on February 7, 2018. Her abduction shocked the country, particularly because of the staggering ransom demand of $1m. As the family grappled with the situation, they received Magara’s fingers, which had been cut off as a chilling warning that she would be killed if the ransom was not paid.
The family eventually handed over $200,000 to the kidnappers. But Magara was still killed, apparently because her captors feared she could identify them if she were released.
The Police investigation, however, penetrated the complicated web behind the kidnapping and murder. Investigators traced the suspects and reconstructed how the plot had been organised. They even obtained an eyewitness who identified the man who picked up the ransom money. They identified the criminals’ operating bases and pieced together evidence that eventually enabled the prosecution to present a compelling case in court.
This is one of several high-profile cases in which the Uganda Police Force has demonstrated that, when it brings its investigative machinery to bear, it can handle complex and sophisticated crimes.
The irony, however, is that these successes have not necessarily translated into public confidence in the Police. The public often encounters a very different Police when dealing with the small, everyday crimes that affect ordinary people.
This is where the incongruity lies: How can a Police Force capable of unravelling a complex kidnapping and murder syndicate struggle to deal effectively with a stolen phone, a break-in, domestic assault, simple fraud or petty theft?
There are, however, other compelling examples of what the Police can accomplish.
On August 28, 2019, nearly a year and a half after the Magara murder, NGO worker Maria Nagirinya and her driver, Ronald Kaitayimbwa, were kidnapped from Lungujja in Kampala and later found murdered in Mukono.
Police followed a trail of CCTV footage, telephone records, witnesses and DNA evidence. The investigation eventually led to the conviction of the masterminds, Copriam Kasolo and Johnson Lubega, in October 2023. Both were sentenced to life imprisonment.
Police also investigated the murder of Engineer Daniel Kakeeto Bbosa, head of Buganda’s Ndiga clan. The evidence gathered led to the conviction and death sentences of Luggya Bbosa Tabula and his son, Noah Lujja.
This week, two notorious criminals linked to the wave of killings of bodaboda riders were sentenced to a combined 150 years in prison. Police investigation into one case reconstructed how an unidentified rider was killed in Kanisa Zone, Makindye, Kampala.
Investigators established the role of a 9-by-9 concrete block used to kill the rider and reconstructed the attack. The rider had passed the two men before making a U-turn and asking to be transported to Makindye Primary School. One attacker struggled with him while the other picked up the concrete block and struck him.
The two convicted men, Aloysius Tamale and John Bosco Mugisha, were not initially arrested for that particular murder. They were captured on CCTV in connection with another killing in Mengo, Kampala. Once arrested, investigators linked them to a series of killings of bodaboda riders. They were also linked to the wider killings of girls in Kampala that had caused widespread fear among the public. This demonstrates an important point: A thorough investigation makes the prosecutor’s job considerably easier. When investigators collect and preserve the right evidence, the state attorney can place suspects at the crime scene, establish the chain of events and present a case capable of withstanding judicial scrutiny.
Increasingly, high-profile investigations demonstrate the sophisticated tools now available to the Police: DNA analysis, fingerprints, CCTV footage, telephone tracking, financial trails, witness accounts and the systematic linking and corroboration of evidence. Investigators can track suspects and reconstruct events long after a crime has been committed.
They reveal how crimes were planned, identify those involved, trace their movements and show how investigators patiently unravelled complex networks.
The Police have demonstrated similar capacity in terrorism investigations.
When Al-Shabaab carried out the first major suicide bombing in Uganda in July 2010, the Police took up the investigation before other security agencies and the FBI of the United States joined the effort. One of the lead investigators was John Ngaruye Ndungutse. His account describes how he led the investigative team, the subsequent regional manhunt and the arrests and convictions that followed.
Ndungutse has documented his experience and the role of the Uganda Police Force in his book, Countering Terror: The Law as a Potent Antidote.
So, the question is not whether the Police can investigate crime. It clearly can.
Somewhere at Naguru, Kampala, there is a modern forensic laboratory. There is a CCTV monitoring centre and the Criminal Investigations Directorate in Kibuli. The Police today is much better equipped than it was 20 years ago, with forensic capabilities, surveillance technology, vehicles and other investigative tools. It is employing more professionals. The question, therefore, is why this capacity appears to be concentrated on the big crimes.
Why should a Police Force that can unravel a kidnapping network, reconstruct a murder using DNA and telephone records, track suspects across jurisdictions and secure convictions in complicated murder cases sometimes appear helpless when an ordinary citizen reports a stolen phone, a break-in, a threatening neighbour or a simple assault? This is the paradox that the Uganda Police Force needs to confront.
dmukholi@gmail.com
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