Bodaboda crime gang boss lynched

By Sarah Zawedde

A man believed to have been the boss of gang that terrorises bodaboda riders was lynched in the wee hours of Sunday morning.

Emma Kimbugwe, 26, whom residents claim was a renowned thug in Gombe, Matugga, was lynched after a brave bodaboda rider made an alarm as he was being robbed.

Painfully narrating his ordeal, Francis Male, the man who had been hired all the way from Nateete, said he was home sleeping when a female client he knows well called and told him she had failed to find transport to Bwaise.

He said he agreed to take her, but just after a short distance, Kimbugwe [the thug] stopped them and asked to be taken to Bwaise as well.

Male says he took both passengers to Bwaise where his client paid him sh5,000 and Kimbugwe paid sh7,000.

However Kimbugwe asked him to take him up to Gombe for sh30,000. An unsuspecting Male said because the man was dressed smartly in a suit, he did not sense any whiff of suspicion, whatsoever.

The two engaged in conversation all the way and Kimbugwe even brought up the issue of thugs who clobber bodaboda riders and steal their bikes. He even commiserated with him for the risk they undertake doing their work.

But when they got to Nakukuba - Buwunzi, Kimbugwe told the unsuspecting rider to stop and he got off the bodaboda to pay him. However, in a flash, another man jumped from the bush and clobbered him with an iron bar on the head.

Male attempted to put up a fight and shouted for help.

Luckily, residents ran to his rescue and managed to corner Kimbugwe who was then lynched. And that was when the bodaboda rider stooped into a state of unconsciousness.

The area LCI chairperson, Bbosa Mugagga, said before Kimbugwe breathed his last, he confessed that his gang coordinated with a rich man he identified only as Katabalwa of Kiryagonja.

The dying thug mentioned that they are paid sh1m for every successful operation.

The Police led by Matugga station chief, James Kawalya, arrived at the scene and condemned the mob justice. He said the deceased could have given them a lot of vital information.

Kimbugwe's body was taken to Mulago hospital mortuary while Male was taken for treatment.