A Charmer To The Kids In The Neighbourhood
Nov 25, 2002
Those who kill with swords, do not know what hell their victims go through, they only feel the pain when the swords are turned on them.
By Vision Reporter
Those who kill with swords, do not know what hell their victims go through, they only feel the pain when the swords are turned on them. Just like John Waweru alias Black, a notorious Kampala gangster, who learnt the language of agony when he tried to escape from police officers on October 28, 2002.
It did not occur to him on the first night of April 2001, when he shot a Makerere University female student from her CCE Complex hall room, despite her pleas to be spared, that he would one day follow her.
He is said to have clandestinely killed scores of innocent Ugandans before he was made to listen to the same tune.
Several price tags were put on his head in vain, because of his ability to elude any inquisitive stranger. His greatest hobbies were killing people and playing pool, while his best time was after he had smoked cocaine; and when he had a woman at his side. Black feared nobody, he even vowed to kill Col. Elly Kayanja, commander of Operation Wembley, after discovering that he was hunting for him. He lived a Mafia lifestyle and nobody among his neighbours in Kakajjo, Old Kampala, could suspect him to be a thug. He lived in Kakajjo for many years, but his neighbours learnt that he was Black the thief, that Monday when he was led to his former castle to show police officers, a nurse who treated him whenever he was injured during a robbery.
His immediate neighbour, Mama Kajjungu, says they lived in Kiwanuka's houses, and that Black first lived with a small boy called Junior, who would open for him at night. He later on married a young girl whom he would penalise by squeezing her hands with pliers whenever she made a mistake. The small boy would tell neighbours what happened in Black's room the following day.
Black never allowed his wife to freely socialise with neighbours. “He would not allow her to move out, apart from washing utensils, which she would wash from outside because there was hardly any space inside. He had many household properties,†Mama Kajjungu said.
When he was shot, he told his neighbours that robbers ambushed them on Masaka Road, while transporting Vita Foam mattresses. Mama Kajjungu maintains though, that Black was a very good man at home. “He would talk to people, crack jokes and share some eats with neighbours' children,†she says. He was generous and would bring home take-away snacks and share with whoever felt comfortable with him.
Young boys, especially soccer fans, watched the match from Black's room. He was the man who spent most of his time at his mzigo, though at night he would come back late, and wake up his snoring wife.
One thing that still perturbed his neighbours, is how he survived without washing his clothes. His wife only washed bed-sheets: “I had never seen them washing any other clothes apart from bed-sheets,†says the neighbour.
It is still boggling his neighbours’ minds how their hospitable nature turned out to be killer. But they note, however, that when Barbara Mwesigye was shot at Makerere University, he moved house.
By the time of his arrest, Black was very poor, he told journalists in his cell at CPS, Kampala. This was so because he had spent much of the time hiding from security operatives. He said it was true he was a thug, but appealed to the public not to disturb his mother and wives, because they were not concerned with his deeds.
Black was buried in the KCC cemetery, Lusaze Lubaga, Kampala. Men refused to be associated with fearless Black, but a few women veiled from the clicking journalistic camera, stood by him as his body was lowered into his grave wrapped in black polythene paper.
Ends
Those who kill with swords, do not know what hell their victims go through, they only feel the pain when the swords are turned on them. Just like John Waweru alias Black, a notorious Kampala gangster, who learnt the language of agony when he tried to escape from police officers on October 28, 2002.
It did not occur to him on the first night of April 2001, when he shot a Makerere University female student from her CCE Complex hall room, despite her pleas to be spared, that he would one day follow her.
He is said to have clandestinely killed scores of innocent Ugandans before he was made to listen to the same tune.
Several price tags were put on his head in vain, because of his ability to elude any inquisitive stranger. His greatest hobbies were killing people and playing pool, while his best time was after he had smoked cocaine; and when he had a woman at his side. Black feared nobody, he even vowed to kill Col. Elly Kayanja, commander of Operation Wembley, after discovering that he was hunting for him. He lived a Mafia lifestyle and nobody among his neighbours in Kakajjo, Old Kampala, could suspect him to be a thug. He lived in Kakajjo for many years, but his neighbours learnt that he was Black the thief, that Monday when he was led to his former castle to show police officers, a nurse who treated him whenever he was injured during a robbery.
His immediate neighbour, Mama Kajjungu, says they lived in Kiwanuka's houses, and that Black first lived with a small boy called Junior, who would open for him at night. He later on married a young girl whom he would penalise by squeezing her hands with pliers whenever she made a mistake. The small boy would tell neighbours what happened in Black's room the following day.
Black never allowed his wife to freely socialise with neighbours. “He would not allow her to move out, apart from washing utensils, which she would wash from outside because there was hardly any space inside. He had many household properties,†Mama Kajjungu said.
When he was shot, he told his neighbours that robbers ambushed them on Masaka Road, while transporting Vita Foam mattresses. Mama Kajjungu maintains though, that Black was a very good man at home. “He would talk to people, crack jokes and share some eats with neighbours' children,†she says. He was generous and would bring home take-away snacks and share with whoever felt comfortable with him.
Young boys, especially soccer fans, watched the match from Black's room. He was the man who spent most of his time at his mzigo, though at night he would come back late, and wake up his snoring wife.
One thing that still perturbed his neighbours, is how he survived without washing his clothes. His wife only washed bed-sheets: “I had never seen them washing any other clothes apart from bed-sheets,†says the neighbour.
It is still boggling his neighbours’ minds how their hospitable nature turned out to be killer. But they note, however, that when Barbara Mwesigye was shot at Makerere University, he moved house.
By the time of his arrest, Black was very poor, he told journalists in his cell at CPS, Kampala. This was so because he had spent much of the time hiding from security operatives. He said it was true he was a thug, but appealed to the public not to disturb his mother and wives, because they were not concerned with his deeds.
Black was buried in the KCC cemetery, Lusaze Lubaga, Kampala. Men refused to be associated with fearless Black, but a few women veiled from the clicking journalistic camera, stood by him as his body was lowered into his grave wrapped in black polythene paper.
Ends