Living in the fear of being stabbed
Sep 24, 2007
IT had been a peaceful day for Fred Kiddawalime, a popular boda boda cyclist in Kisaasi, a Kampala suburb. In the evening, he had played football with his colleagues at Kisaasi Rangers, before returning to his work station later. He cracked a few jokes with his friends, but little did they know that
By Joshua Kato
IT had been a peaceful day for Fred Kiddawalime, a popular boda boda cyclist in Kisaasi, a Kampala suburb. In the evening, he had played football with his colleagues at Kisaasi Rangers, before returning to his work station later. He cracked a few jokes with his friends, but little did they know that this was the last time they were seeing him alive.
“After playing football, he went home and bathed, then returned to the stage,†says a colleague. At around 8:00pm, a passenger, who stood in a dark spot near the road, called him. Kiddawalime started his new Bajaj bike, picked the passenger and rode away.
According to colleagues, the person who called Kiddawalime knew him personally. They rode towards Kulambiro.
“Along the way, they met another man and the passenger asked Kiddawalime to let him on the motorcycle. Kiddawalime accepted because he knew his first passenger very well. They rode up to Tuba, an isolated area of Kulambiro and this is where Kiddawalime was brutally stabbed to death,†the colleague says.
Kiddawalime is the latest of the boda boda cyclists who have been killed this year.
In Nateete, another suburb, six boda boda cyclists have been killed since the beginning of this year.
According to Police statistics, at least six motorcycles are stolen everyday in Kampala. In most cases, the riders are either stabbed to death or fatally wounded. In Kisaasi, four cyclists have been stabbed this year, two of whom died. Recently, the Police in Nateete recovered 27 stolen motorcycles from a cartel of over 10 robbers. One of the men arrested admitted killing 18 of his victims.
Sula Ngonzi, the serial boda boda killer, is tall and muscular. His eyes are red like those of an angry leopard. During the day, Ngonzi disguised as a hawker of cosmetics products.
“He used to interact with boda boda cyclists during the day to find out who was getting more money,†says a boda boda cyclist at Nateete. At night, Ngonzi used a very sharp knife and a hammer to attack cyclists.
“One day, he asked me to take him to Kabuusu in Rubaga Division, but changed his mind along the way and told me to ride to Nalukolongo,†says a rider in Nateete, who helped identify Ngonzi.
“The next thing I felt was a knife piercing may back. I dropped the bike and staggered away. He tried to chase me to finish me off, but I ran faster,†he says.
This rider had not seen Ngonzi again, until recently, when he met him at Nateete. On interrogation, Ngonzi, admitted to killing 18 boda boda cyclists in Rubaga and Makindye divisions. He also led the Police to some of his accomplices, from whom 27 motorcycles were recovered.
Most of the stolen motorcycles are dismantled and sold as spare parts to the cyclists. A few, like the TVS and Bajaj models are smuggled out of the country and sold in neighbouring countries.
The killers use the same strategies all the time. “They start by posing as passengers, then they take you to an isolated place and stab you,†says a boda boda cyclist in Kisaasi.
The killers take time to study the movement of a targeted rider. For instance, what time does he start work and when does he retire. They also take into account his strength.
“If the target is muscular, they come in a group of more than three, just like it was in Kiddawalime’s case,†says another cyclist.
“This is not like any other robbery where the robber snatches your property and flees. The killer in this case has to put you out of action in one way or another, before he robs you,†says Umar Mutibwa Mukongo, a boda boda cyclist, who operates from Bukoto.
“Most of the time, it is a stab in the back. If the victim does not die instantly, the robber may finish him off by hitting him with a hammer on the head. In this case, there is little chance for survival,†Mutibwa, who survived, says.
The Police spokesman, Simeo Nsubuga, warns boda boda cyclists against riding people to isolated and dark places. He also urges them to be wary of all passengers at night.
However, cyclists say it is difficult for them to effectively protect themselves.
“It is very difficult to identify who is a thief and who is not,†says one of the cyclists.
“The best option would be desisting from working at night, but again, this is the time we make more money,†says another. “Even if you check passengers before transporting them, they always have their colleagues stationed in isolated or dark spots,†another cyclist says.
The Police in a bid to reduce the killings ordered riders not to work beyond 10:00pm. Some cyclists obliged, but the majority did not heed the warning.
“We make more money at night, it is very tempting to work at night,†says Charles Muwanguzi, a boda boda cyclist in Kyebando. Besides, when many of the cyclists stopped working beyond 10:00pm, the killers brought forward their hours of operation. Many of those attacked recently have been killed between 8:00 and 10:00pm. Kiddawalime was killed at 8:00pm.
Nsubuga says sometimes the thieves are not violent, but use foods laced with chroloform to weaken the cyclists, before robbing their motorcycles.
Obviously, refusing to eat anything from a passenger will solve this issue. But for the knives, it will take more than the vigilance of the riders to survive.
IT had been a peaceful day for Fred Kiddawalime, a popular boda boda cyclist in Kisaasi, a Kampala suburb. In the evening, he had played football with his colleagues at Kisaasi Rangers, before returning to his work station later. He cracked a few jokes with his friends, but little did they know that this was the last time they were seeing him alive.
“After playing football, he went home and bathed, then returned to the stage,†says a colleague. At around 8:00pm, a passenger, who stood in a dark spot near the road, called him. Kiddawalime started his new Bajaj bike, picked the passenger and rode away.
According to colleagues, the person who called Kiddawalime knew him personally. They rode towards Kulambiro.
“Along the way, they met another man and the passenger asked Kiddawalime to let him on the motorcycle. Kiddawalime accepted because he knew his first passenger very well. They rode up to Tuba, an isolated area of Kulambiro and this is where Kiddawalime was brutally stabbed to death,†the colleague says.
Kiddawalime is the latest of the boda boda cyclists who have been killed this year.
In Nateete, another suburb, six boda boda cyclists have been killed since the beginning of this year.
According to Police statistics, at least six motorcycles are stolen everyday in Kampala. In most cases, the riders are either stabbed to death or fatally wounded. In Kisaasi, four cyclists have been stabbed this year, two of whom died. Recently, the Police in Nateete recovered 27 stolen motorcycles from a cartel of over 10 robbers. One of the men arrested admitted killing 18 of his victims.
Sula Ngonzi, the serial boda boda killer, is tall and muscular. His eyes are red like those of an angry leopard. During the day, Ngonzi disguised as a hawker of cosmetics products.
“He used to interact with boda boda cyclists during the day to find out who was getting more money,†says a boda boda cyclist at Nateete. At night, Ngonzi used a very sharp knife and a hammer to attack cyclists.
“One day, he asked me to take him to Kabuusu in Rubaga Division, but changed his mind along the way and told me to ride to Nalukolongo,†says a rider in Nateete, who helped identify Ngonzi.
“The next thing I felt was a knife piercing may back. I dropped the bike and staggered away. He tried to chase me to finish me off, but I ran faster,†he says.
This rider had not seen Ngonzi again, until recently, when he met him at Nateete. On interrogation, Ngonzi, admitted to killing 18 boda boda cyclists in Rubaga and Makindye divisions. He also led the Police to some of his accomplices, from whom 27 motorcycles were recovered.
Most of the stolen motorcycles are dismantled and sold as spare parts to the cyclists. A few, like the TVS and Bajaj models are smuggled out of the country and sold in neighbouring countries.
The killers use the same strategies all the time. “They start by posing as passengers, then they take you to an isolated place and stab you,†says a boda boda cyclist in Kisaasi.
The killers take time to study the movement of a targeted rider. For instance, what time does he start work and when does he retire. They also take into account his strength.
“If the target is muscular, they come in a group of more than three, just like it was in Kiddawalime’s case,†says another cyclist.
“This is not like any other robbery where the robber snatches your property and flees. The killer in this case has to put you out of action in one way or another, before he robs you,†says Umar Mutibwa Mukongo, a boda boda cyclist, who operates from Bukoto.
“Most of the time, it is a stab in the back. If the victim does not die instantly, the robber may finish him off by hitting him with a hammer on the head. In this case, there is little chance for survival,†Mutibwa, who survived, says.
The Police spokesman, Simeo Nsubuga, warns boda boda cyclists against riding people to isolated and dark places. He also urges them to be wary of all passengers at night.
However, cyclists say it is difficult for them to effectively protect themselves.
“It is very difficult to identify who is a thief and who is not,†says one of the cyclists.
“The best option would be desisting from working at night, but again, this is the time we make more money,†says another. “Even if you check passengers before transporting them, they always have their colleagues stationed in isolated or dark spots,†another cyclist says.
The Police in a bid to reduce the killings ordered riders not to work beyond 10:00pm. Some cyclists obliged, but the majority did not heed the warning.
“We make more money at night, it is very tempting to work at night,†says Charles Muwanguzi, a boda boda cyclist in Kyebando. Besides, when many of the cyclists stopped working beyond 10:00pm, the killers brought forward their hours of operation. Many of those attacked recently have been killed between 8:00 and 10:00pm. Kiddawalime was killed at 8:00pm.
Nsubuga says sometimes the thieves are not violent, but use foods laced with chroloform to weaken the cyclists, before robbing their motorcycles.
Obviously, refusing to eat anything from a passenger will solve this issue. But for the knives, it will take more than the vigilance of the riders to survive.