Due to their participation in a cash heist that damaged the reputation of the Uganda Police Force, four officers from the Kabalagala Police Station are expected to face accusations of discreditable behaviour.
The officers were Phiona Among, Isaac Angula, Shafik Baluku, and Bernard Galenda, all of whom were assigned to the Kabalagala police station, according to Police Spokesperson Fred Enanga.
The officers were taken into custody last week on suspicion of stealing Kenyan businessman Muhammad Olad Abdirahman of USD 30,000 (about UGX 114 million).
It all began when Muhammad and two other people went to the Royal View Hotel Buziga manager to ask for help in figuring out the best conversion rate for their $30,000.
Three officers were informed after the hotel management gave one of them a tip.
“When they got to the hotel, they plotted with someone else known as Okello—who was posing as a foreign exchange broker—to get the victims arrested,” Enanga said.
The victims were then allegedly forced into a car by the officers, who allegedly took them to Kabalagala Barracks Road and then to another hotel garden, where they were allegedly robbed of $30,000 before being let free.
Following their account of their ordeal, the victims filed a case with the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID), which resulted in the four officers being taken into custody.
Some cash and other exhibits were found during searches at the officers’ residences.
According to Enanga, the four officers will appear before the police disciplinary court and likely face dismissal from the force.
They will thereafter face legal charges in the courts of law for aggravated robbery.
The hotel manager and a person going by the name of Okello are still wanted.
According to the 2022 annual crime report, there were 443 cases of aggravated robbery of cash reported to the police in 2022, which is 1.6% more than the 436 cases that were reported in 2021.