Crime: Will that taxi get you home safely?
Oct 16, 2009
Last week the Police paraded a taxi driver and conductor for allegedly robbing a passenger and blew open the re-emerging crime that is catching passengers unawares.
By Steven Candia
Last week the Police paraded a taxi driver and conductor for allegedly robbing a passenger and blew open the re-emerging crime that is catching passengers unawares.
Parading the driver, Christopher Semakula and the conductor, Sewanyana Congoni before the press, Kampala Police chief Andrew Sorowen said there was a big network of people involved.
The duo, who face the charge of simple robbery, were arrested in Wakiso for allegedly robbing a passenger at Nabweru on October 8.
The victim, like several other passengers, boarded the omnibus at the New Taxi Park, heading for Wakiso from the Busunju stage.
Passengers kept disembarking along the way until, at one point, the unsuspecting victim remained alone with the crew.
“When the taxi reached Nabweru, the driver decided that he would not proceed with the journey. But as the passenger started to disembark, they pounced on him and grabbed his wallet and mobile phone,†Sorowen said. The victim, whose identity he declined to disclose, was lucky to get away with his laptop.
Taxi crews, Sorowen said, were increasingly getting involved in crime, robbing their passengers instead of delivering them safely to their destinations. “This is a big racket of drivers and conductors turning against passengers and robbing them,†Sorowen said.
The Nabweru incident is just one of several similar robberies that occur in the city and its suburbs, orchestrated and executed by taxi crews on their unsuspecting passengers.
According to the Police, many of the cases reported leave few clues because the victims do not know the number plates of the taxis.
Over the past six months, six such cases have been reported at Bugoloobi police post. Jinja Road Police Station has recorded eight, Kireka three, Kitintale two, Katwe Police Station five, Kawempe four and Ntinda Police one. The robberies are usually carried out late in the evening or early hours of the night.
The taxi driver, conductor and sometimes other accomplices who pretend to be fellow passengers either use brute force or tricks which confuse the passengers before robbing them of their money, mobile phones, bags and other portable items.
They mainly target women and passengers who travel alone. In many police reports, victims have recorded loss of ATM cards, personal documents, cash and mobile phones, with the majority seeking Police letters to present to their banks, in the case of lost ATM cards.
Police spokesperson Judith Nabakooba says the Police has found it difficult to arrest the suspects because most of the victims do not take note of the number plates of the minibuses, while in some cases they don’t even report to the Police.
But security sources are quick to point out that the crime signals a shift in tactics by the perpetrators from the earlier practice when thugs with concealed weapons would board taxis posing as passengers only to execute a robbery later.
“Given that the consequences of being found with a firearm are grave, they now prefer the new style, knowing that if arrested, the penalty is less severe,†the sources say.
Sorowen urged people who had been attacked in taxis to report to the Police and appealed to the leadership of the Uganda Taxi Operators and Drivers Association (UTODA) to screen all its workers.
He blamed UTODA for burying its head in the sand when the Police confronted them about regulating their members. UTODA has always distanced its personnel from such incidents.
“They always say such robberies are carried out by kibaluwa (unlicensed) drivers and not their bonafide members,†Sorowen said. “This is proof that thugs have infiltrated the body. These thugs are not kibaluwa, given that the taxi loaded passengers and took off from the New Taxi Park,†he added.
UTODA national chairman John Ndyomugyenyi conceded that thugs had infiltrated the organisation. “Lately there has been an increase in such incidents,†he said, but hurried to blame the crime on bonafide drivers who rent out their vehicles to people unknown to UTODA.
“The owners rent out their cars to different people as long as they are willing to meet the cost. But these people have different intentions, including crime,†he says.
In such situations, he says, a potential client will approach a genuine driver and express interest to rent car. “He will then ask the driver how much money he makes per day and then pays him the money. He takes away the car only to use it to commit a robbery,†he explains.
He, however, says UTODA is committed to fighting crime. As part of the measures, he says, they have computerised their systems and embarked on an exercise to re-register their members.
“This is a computerised system in which we capture and feed the bio data of our staff. We keep the name, photo, details of the owner of the car and where it operates,†he says, adding: “In case of anything, we know who to contact or trace.â€
Tips on how to avoid being robbed in a taxi
- If you must take a taxi at a roadside stage
late in the evening or after dark, avoid carrying items of high value. Otherwise, avoid taking a taxi at night
- It also helps when there are two or more people boarding the taxi with you
- Be cautious of the items you have. Hold your phone in your hands and keep your bag at the front where you can see it
- Note the number plate of the taxi you have boarded so that you can help Police trace the thieves
- Don’t resist if they pounce. You could get hurt. Just hand over whatever they want and walk away
- Report the incident to the nearest police station if you have been robbed
- Avoid taxis which appear to be empty at the time the route seems to have many passengers
victims share experiences
Martina Tusiima of Kitintale
I took this taxi at Port Bell Road near the National Water office. I was with another woman. I don’t remember the exact number of people who were in the taxi but I sat in the front. When we reached Bugolobi near Shell, the driver told us to get out because the taxi had developed a mechanical problem. I got into another taxi. Before reaching Kitintale, the conductor asked for money. When I checked in my bag, the money and my mobile phone were missing. Up to now I have failed to understand how the thugs opened my bag and took all my money, my vital document and the phone.
Mark Mugisha of Nateete
I took a tax from Nateete at 8:00pm. It was raining. I sat next to the conductor, who looked unstable and kept squeezing against me, in spite of the fact that we were few in the taxi. I even thought he had taken drugs. I got out at Mengo hospital and to my surprise, my phone had been stolen. I had used the phone while in the taxi. I demanded that the few people in the taxi be checked. They just threw me out and drove off without asking for their fare.
Jeremiah Mutanda of Banda
I thought I was smart. The taxi had few people but I boarded it from Lugogo and sat in front. I had heard about the tricks taxi thugs use to rob unsuspecting passengers. But at Banda, I felt something moving in my pocket. I checked and my phone was not there. I immediately held my neighbour and announced he had stolen my phone. I actually grabbed him by the collar. The driver stopped immediately and came over. I thought he was coming to help me but he was not. He opened the passenger door and grabbed me, pulled me out and everybody in the taxi started beating me and calling me a thief.
The cars which were following us stopped a bit before moving on, having been told that I was trying to rob a passenger. This went on until a woman advised them to take me to Police instead of killing me. They then threw me on the ground and jumped into the taxi and drove off. They had stolen all the money, my clothes were torn and I had to walk home. I reported the matter to Jinja Road Police but I did not know the number plate of the car.
- Special Police Constable Baboogeza attached to Kawempe police station
According to the Police, Baboogeza withdrew money from a bank at Wandegeya at around 10:00am. He boarded a taxi which had four occupants to Kawempe. On reaching Bwaise, the driver stopped the taxi and the conductor pulled him out of the vehicle, kicked and grabbed the sh400,000- he had just withdrawn. He made an alarm and the driver reversed the car to hit him but he ducked. The vehicle was intercepted at Mulago junction. The driver escaped but the police later arrested Godfrey Kiberuzi and Robert Kabenge, both residents of Namungoona. Investigations led to the suspects who were travelling in the vehicle number UAF 080 being taken to court and charged with assault and robbery.
- Norah Nalumansi, sales representative in Industrial area
I boarded a taxi at the Jinja Road stage near the police station. There were four men and a woman, one who wore a jacket and tie occupying the front seat, two were seated next to the conductor. The man and the woman occupied the back seat. I like sitting in the front seat. The man, who was trying to be friendly, told me the door had not closed properly. I struggled to open the door but failed and he leaned over to help me but still the door could not open. We drove off anyway. When we reached Lugogo bypass, the driver suddenly stopped and said fuel had ran out. The conductor then opened the door that had originally failed and I got out of the taxi. The driver then sped off leaving me suspicious of the whole thing. I opened my bag to call a friend but my phone wasn’t there. I looked for my money purse and it was not there. This is when I realised that the people I was with were not passengers but thugs. They took my mobile phone, sh40,000, my ATM card, identity card and a photocopy of my land title.
Last week the Police paraded a taxi driver and conductor for allegedly robbing a passenger and blew open the re-emerging crime that is catching passengers unawares.
Parading the driver, Christopher Semakula and the conductor, Sewanyana Congoni before the press, Kampala Police chief Andrew Sorowen said there was a big network of people involved.
The duo, who face the charge of simple robbery, were arrested in Wakiso for allegedly robbing a passenger at Nabweru on October 8.
The victim, like several other passengers, boarded the omnibus at the New Taxi Park, heading for Wakiso from the Busunju stage.
Passengers kept disembarking along the way until, at one point, the unsuspecting victim remained alone with the crew.
“When the taxi reached Nabweru, the driver decided that he would not proceed with the journey. But as the passenger started to disembark, they pounced on him and grabbed his wallet and mobile phone,†Sorowen said. The victim, whose identity he declined to disclose, was lucky to get away with his laptop.
Taxi crews, Sorowen said, were increasingly getting involved in crime, robbing their passengers instead of delivering them safely to their destinations. “This is a big racket of drivers and conductors turning against passengers and robbing them,†Sorowen said.
The Nabweru incident is just one of several similar robberies that occur in the city and its suburbs, orchestrated and executed by taxi crews on their unsuspecting passengers.
According to the Police, many of the cases reported leave few clues because the victims do not know the number plates of the taxis.
Over the past six months, six such cases have been reported at Bugoloobi police post. Jinja Road Police Station has recorded eight, Kireka three, Kitintale two, Katwe Police Station five, Kawempe four and Ntinda Police one. The robberies are usually carried out late in the evening or early hours of the night.
The taxi driver, conductor and sometimes other accomplices who pretend to be fellow passengers either use brute force or tricks which confuse the passengers before robbing them of their money, mobile phones, bags and other portable items.
They mainly target women and passengers who travel alone. In many police reports, victims have recorded loss of ATM cards, personal documents, cash and mobile phones, with the majority seeking Police letters to present to their banks, in the case of lost ATM cards.
Police spokesperson Judith Nabakooba says the Police has found it difficult to arrest the suspects because most of the victims do not take note of the number plates of the minibuses, while in some cases they don’t even report to the Police.
But security sources are quick to point out that the crime signals a shift in tactics by the perpetrators from the earlier practice when thugs with concealed weapons would board taxis posing as passengers only to execute a robbery later.
“Given that the consequences of being found with a firearm are grave, they now prefer the new style, knowing that if arrested, the penalty is less severe,†the sources say.
Sorowen urged people who had been attacked in taxis to report to the Police and appealed to the leadership of the Uganda Taxi Operators and Drivers Association (UTODA) to screen all its workers.
He blamed UTODA for burying its head in the sand when the Police confronted them about regulating their members. UTODA has always distanced its personnel from such incidents.
“They always say such robberies are carried out by kibaluwa (unlicensed) drivers and not their bonafide members,†Sorowen said. “This is proof that thugs have infiltrated the body. These thugs are not kibaluwa, given that the taxi loaded passengers and took off from the New Taxi Park,†he added.
UTODA national chairman John Ndyomugyenyi conceded that thugs had infiltrated the organisation. “Lately there has been an increase in such incidents,†he said, but hurried to blame the crime on bonafide drivers who rent out their vehicles to people unknown to UTODA.
“The owners rent out their cars to different people as long as they are willing to meet the cost. But these people have different intentions, including crime,†he says.
In such situations, he says, a potential client will approach a genuine driver and express interest to rent car. “He will then ask the driver how much money he makes per day and then pays him the money. He takes away the car only to use it to commit a robbery,†he explains.
He, however, says UTODA is committed to fighting crime. As part of the measures, he says, they have computerised their systems and embarked on an exercise to re-register their members.
“This is a computerised system in which we capture and feed the bio data of our staff. We keep the name, photo, details of the owner of the car and where it operates,†he says, adding: “In case of anything, we know who to contact or trace.â€
Tips on how to avoid being robbed in a taxi
- If you must take a taxi at a roadside stage
late in the evening or after dark, avoid carrying items of high value. Otherwise, avoid taking a taxi at night
- It also helps when there are two or more people boarding the taxi with you
- Be cautious of the items you have. Hold your phone in your hands and keep your bag at the front where you can see it
- Note the number plate of the taxi you have boarded so that you can help Police trace the thieves
- Don’t resist if they pounce. You could get hurt. Just hand over whatever they want and walk away
- Report the incident to the nearest police station if you have been robbed
- Avoid taxis which appear to be empty at the time the route seems to have many passengers
victims share experiences
Martina Tusiima of Kitintale
I took this taxi at Port Bell Road near the National Water office. I was with another woman. I don’t remember the exact number of people who were in the taxi but I sat in the front. When we reached Bugolobi near Shell, the driver told us to get out because the taxi had developed a mechanical problem. I got into another taxi. Before reaching Kitintale, the conductor asked for money. When I checked in my bag, the money and my mobile phone were missing. Up to now I have failed to understand how the thugs opened my bag and took all my money, my vital document and the phone.
Mark Mugisha of Nateete
I took a tax from Nateete at 8:00pm. It was raining. I sat next to the conductor, who looked unstable and kept squeezing against me, in spite of the fact that we were few in the taxi. I even thought he had taken drugs. I got out at Mengo hospital and to my surprise, my phone had been stolen. I had used the phone while in the taxi. I demanded that the few people in the taxi be checked. They just threw me out and drove off without asking for their fare.
Jeremiah Mutanda of Banda
I thought I was smart. The taxi had few people but I boarded it from Lugogo and sat in front. I had heard about the tricks taxi thugs use to rob unsuspecting passengers. But at Banda, I felt something moving in my pocket. I checked and my phone was not there. I immediately held my neighbour and announced he had stolen my phone. I actually grabbed him by the collar. The driver stopped immediately and came over. I thought he was coming to help me but he was not. He opened the passenger door and grabbed me, pulled me out and everybody in the taxi started beating me and calling me a thief.
The cars which were following us stopped a bit before moving on, having been told that I was trying to rob a passenger. This went on until a woman advised them to take me to Police instead of killing me. They then threw me on the ground and jumped into the taxi and drove off. They had stolen all the money, my clothes were torn and I had to walk home. I reported the matter to Jinja Road Police but I did not know the number plate of the car.
- Special Police Constable Baboogeza attached to Kawempe police station
According to the Police, Baboogeza withdrew money from a bank at Wandegeya at around 10:00am. He boarded a taxi which had four occupants to Kawempe. On reaching Bwaise, the driver stopped the taxi and the conductor pulled him out of the vehicle, kicked and grabbed the sh400,000- he had just withdrawn. He made an alarm and the driver reversed the car to hit him but he ducked. The vehicle was intercepted at Mulago junction. The driver escaped but the police later arrested Godfrey Kiberuzi and Robert Kabenge, both residents of Namungoona. Investigations led to the suspects who were travelling in the vehicle number UAF 080 being taken to court and charged with assault and robbery.
- Norah Nalumansi, sales representative in Industrial area
I boarded a taxi at the Jinja Road stage near the police station. There were four men and a woman, one who wore a jacket and tie occupying the front seat, two were seated next to the conductor. The man and the woman occupied the back seat. I like sitting in the front seat. The man, who was trying to be friendly, told me the door had not closed properly. I struggled to open the door but failed and he leaned over to help me but still the door could not open. We drove off anyway. When we reached Lugogo bypass, the driver suddenly stopped and said fuel had ran out. The conductor then opened the door that had originally failed and I got out of the taxi. The driver then sped off leaving me suspicious of the whole thing. I opened my bag to call a friend but my phone wasn’t there. I looked for my money purse and it was not there. This is when I realised that the people I was with were not passengers but thugs. They took my mobile phone, sh40,000, my ATM card, identity card and a photocopy of my land title.