Thieves on the prowl for jewellery

SUNDAY VISION

The high prices of gold and the ease with which one can sell it, have contributed to the rise in the theft of gold jewellery on the streets of Kampala.

By Charles Etukuri

Twenty-four-year-old Aishwarya of Indian origin was walking on Kampala Road towards her husband’s shop on King Fahad Plaza.

A group of three men in their mid-20s followed her. One of the men came close enough to grab her by the neck. Another targeted her ear, while another grabbed her wrist. It happened so fast. Within a few seconds, her gold necklace, earrings and watch were gone.

It was broad daylight, just opposite Bank of Uganda, a place considered safe because of the security guards at the bank. Aishwarya could see the men running towards the Constitution Square, but despite making an alarm, nobody came to her rescue.

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The thieves often hang about the street and traffic jam situations looking out for ladies donning costly jewellery and then creep up to their victim. ILLUSTRATION/Danny Barongo

For Jane Osbourne, a tourist who had been on a two-week holiday in Kampala, thugs accosted her on Entebbe Road as she sat in a cab on her way to the airport.

“We were seated in the vehicle and the window was open when a man reached through the open passenger window and grabbed my earrings and gold chain. The driver tried to fight with the thief, but others soon joined him. We were only able to recover the gold chain. But one of my earrings was stolen,” Osbourne says.

Meanwhile, Jean an employee of a law firm was walking with her husband on Luwum Street when they were accosted by two men who attempted to rip her gold chain from her neck.

Her husband struggled with one of the men until his accomplice pulled out a knife and pointed it at him. “He had to let him go and the man ripped the necklace off my neck and then fled with it,” Jean says.

Hot spots

From pedestrians to car users, no one is safe from these marauding thieves roaming Kampala’s streets, seeking their next prey. Some of these are street children, while others are well-built men who scare off their victims after robbing them. Their victims are both women and men.

They position themselves on key streets in Kampala and areas prone to traffic jams. Upon snatching a necklace, they swallow it and later pass it out. Other times, the jewellery is quickly passed on to the thief’s accomplices, hiding close by.

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The robbers then pounce from behind, violently removing any jewellery within their reach sometimes injuring their victim in the process. ILLUSTRATION/Danny Barongo
 

Early this year, a Congolese woman dragged a thief to the Old Taxi Park Police Station and wanted the officers to force him to vomit her precious gold chain he had swallowed.

In an interview with Sunday Vision, an officer at Nkrumah Road Police Post said they had received some of the cases of jewellery robberies that were on the rise in the area around Christ the King, Diamond Trust building, Cham Towers and parts of Entebbe Road.

“Most victims are women and the suspects usually approach them while they are walking, snatch the jewellery and run towards the railway station, which is abandoned. They operate in groups and sometimes it is risky for the owners to chase them because you fall into their trap and they beat you up and end up robbing everything else valuable on you,” he says.

The thugs are known and the area they operate from is also well known. At Cham Towers, the boda boda riders who pack opposite the Diamond Trust building showed us a gang of three well built men who were standing outside the bank.

“They are targeting a white man who they have seen enter the bank,” said our guide.

Thirty minutes of their waiting seemed to have paid off. One of the men stopped the white man as he walks away from the bank, grabs his watch and takes off towards Nkurumah Road. His accomplice ran after him into the train station.

Then there is a gang that actively operates near Christ the King Church and Kampala Casino area. After trailing their victims, they also head to the railway station.

On major streets in Kampala, these gangs operate in groups of three, four or even more.

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While pretending to come to the rescue of distressed robbery victims, street goons protect a fleeing colleague and enable his smooth escape from mob attacks. ILLUSTRATION/Danny Barongo

Injuries, violence and death

Sometimes, victims have been hurt in the process. “My earlobe was ripped open as they forcefully grabbed my earring and I had to seek treatment,” Jean says.

In some cases, people’s necks have been sprained in the struggle to avoid being robbed.

In the worst case scenario, there has been death. In the early 2000s, a security operative attempted to take on a group of thugs who had just robbed a necklace from a woman. He was shot dead.

In some of the cases, some of the thugs have been unlucky and fallen victim to mob justice.

Abubaker Musoke, who is serving a three-year sentence in Murchison Bay Prison, Luzira, survived death by a whisker. “I came to Kampala after being chased away from my parents’ home in Masaka by my stepmother, following the death of my father. I found a home on the streets and slowly we graduated from begging to stealing headlamps and other car accessories.

“But then the desire for quick money saw me start snatching wallets and jewellery. I did this for three months until my luck ran out. One day, I followed an Indian lady from Jinja Road to Bombo Road. Just as she was entering a building, I pulled her necklace and immediately swallowed it. We used to operate (in a group of) three people.

"The woman made an alarm and boda boda riders chased me. I was cornered as I slopped to Arua Park and severely beaten,” Musoke narrates.

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Expensive jewellery swallowed for concealment purposes can also be retrieved by the Police and used as evidence against detained thieves. ILLUSTRATION/Danny Barongo

He was lucky that a Police patrol car arrived in time to save him. He passed out the chain during his detention at the Central Police Station in Kampala and was produced before Buganda Road Court and pleaded guilty.

“The complainant was brought to court and the chain was brought as evidence. There was no way I could deny. But now I am a changed man,” says Musoke.

The Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson, Ibin Senkumbi, told Sunday Vision that there were increased cases at the start of the year, but that the Police had deployed at the hot spots.

He, however, urges the public to be more conscious of their own security, maintaining that personal security starts with the individual.

“Extra precaution should be taken when moving on the streets. When driving in the jam, make sure your car windows are up and doors locked,” Senkumbi says.

According to the Police, even though some of the jewellery is meant to be exposed as fashion, those wearing it should know where and when to expose them.

“They attract admiration but also thieves,” Senkumbi warns.

He urges the public to wear clothes that do not show their expensive gold necklaces and chains when in places they deem insecure.

The other caution is to be on the look-out for people who look suspicious and are so close to you while you are walking on the streets.

“If you sense that somebody is following you so closely for a long distance, try to change your course of direction. Avoid abandoned alleys as they could easily pounce on you and nobody would come to your rescue,” Senkumbi adds.