Thugs attack dramatist Ssegawa; spare female visitor

By Josephat Sseguya & Ronald Mubiru

Dramatist John Ssegawa is nursing serious injuries after thugs broke into his home in Bulwa Zone, Lubaga and clobbered him before fleeing with cash and other valuables.

The famed socialite who fathered three children; a girl with singer Mariam Ndagire and two boys with fellow dramatist Ruth Wanyana was at the time of attack in the company of an unidentified woman.

The Saturday night incident left the Afri-Talent drama group director with a gaping wound on his head and deep cut on his cheek after he put up a spirited fight, but was overwhelmed by a group of thugs who clobbered him with a hammer and slashed his cheek with a knife.

Ssegawa narrated from his hospital bed at May Clinic in Lubaga that it was in the dead of the night when he heard commotion in the house and got up to take on the intruder, only to realise he was up against a group of thugs.

He said the thugs crashed down his door and waylaid him as he roamed about from room to room frantically calling people on phone for help. He noted that a 911 call went unanswered, so did several others to his friends.

In the midst of the commotion one of the thugs armed with a hammer hit him on the head while another slashed his cheek; injuries that left him lying in a pool of blood.

After he was incapacitated they started packing up valuables like an unspecified amount of cash, a laptop and three flat screens.

The female visitor

As the thugs wandered from room to room picking up valuables they ordered an unidentified female who by this time was saying her what could have been her last prayer, to jump out of the bed, but did not harm or touch her. However she too lost phones and other valuables.

The thugs then loaded their loot into Ssegawa's Mercedes Benz, registration number UAR 224D, whose keys they ordered the house help to surrender before they fled the scene.

Ssegawa said he sought help from Ruth Wanyana who resides in the neighbourhood of Kikandwa zone in Lubaga and rushed him to May Clinic.

The lanky Ssegawa had to lose his trademark dreadlocks so he could receive proper treatment to the blow he had sustained on his head.

Police from Lungujja that arrived at the scene at day break recovered a pick axe, knife and mortar that the thugs had used to break into the house.

An empty bag whose contents are believed to have been taken was also recovered. Police said at the time they were waiting for the woman to appear at the station and make a statement.

Ssegawa however said he was baffled how the thugs climbed over the perimeter wall yet the premises have two security guards.

He also noted that after they left his place they could have gone to rob elsewhere in the neighbourhood because soon after gunshots could be heard as a guard probably scared off the thugs.

Wanyana recorded a statement on behalf of Ssegawa as he had narrated the events on file number SD REF:03/1/10/2014.

It is not yet clear however if the attack was a random robbery or targeted Ssegawa. Kampala Metropolitan police spokesperson Patrick Onyango said investigations were ongoing on file number SD: 07112/10/2014.