Hooded thugs armed with house- breaking implements force their way into 16 shops at JBK Plaza on Luwum Street in Kampala City at the weekend and made off with money and property worth millions of shillings.
The break-in happened on Saturday night after traders had locked the shops, but the arcade cleaners got to know of the incident on Monday morning. The traders told the Daily Monitor that besides their merchandise, they had left mobile phones, laptops, clothes, and cash in their shops, thinking that they were safe since the plaza had security guards. One of the victims said the thugs broke the locks and disabled the CCTV cameras before they stole the properties and money.
By press time, the victims were still assessing their stock to establish how much they had lost. It is not clear whether the building had an insurance policy against such incidents. The Kampala Metropolitan Police Deputy Spokesman, Mr Luke Owoyesigyire, yesterday said: ‘Investigations have started. We have been able to identify one of the suspects, who is the guard at the plaza. He was captured by one of the CCTV cameras that the thugs were not able to notice or disable. The guard is on the run. Efforts to apprehend them are in high gear.’ Mr Owoyesigyire said the affected shops were detailing in mobile money, jewellery, forex bureaux, and mobile phones.
Cash valued at Shs120m has so far been established to have been stolen. According to the CCTV footage, which the police have obtained, the thugs were also wearing gloves and masks to avoid detection. But the guard, who allegedly guided them, had not covered his face. By the time the police arrived at the scene, the guard had already taken off. Mr Owoyesigyire said they deployed scene of crime officers to the plaza, and they have recovered evidence that would help the detectives in their investigations. ‘Police officers searched the room of one of the suspects. They have recovered photographs of a suspect dressed in a military uniform and holding a machine gun.
We are investigating whether he was once a member of any security agency in the country,’ he said. Boots that are a monopoly of the military were also recovered in his room. One of the managers of the plaza said they had been with the guard for close to 16 years. The guard, 50, allegedly told them he was retired from the army. Break-ins are the fifth-highest committed offences in the country, with 13,511 cases in 2024, according to the police crime report. Property worth Shs35 billion was lost in break-ins in the same period. Some of the shop owners have been carrying their expensive items with them to their home and bringing them back in the morning to avoid losing them.
Background
Criminals have been using the opportunity to target shop owners on the way or at home. High incidents of shop break-ins prompted owners of the arcades to establish gates at the entrances and exits. At night, the gates are closed. Some arcade owners release dogs and set alarms inside the buildings to alert security personnel once there is any break-in. However, due to high power tariffs, many arcade managers switch off lights at night, which compromises the security of the buildings.