Police in Mukono have found it difficult moment to arrest Waibi Livingstone who is a bodaboda driver in Mukono town and two of his children, Kwagala Percy (8) and Linda Gift, 10, who is residents of Kiwala village in Nama subcounty, to arrest two of his children.
When he took his two children and protested in the city center on Kampala –Jinja Highway, he accused the police of not helping him against a rich man, Swabiru Matende, who is collaborating with the thieves and stealing their motorcycles away from them.
And police have brought their police patrol to arrest the children and the father who has been holding a placard and putting on patrol amidst cries from father and children asking the government to help him because he no longer has jobs to take the children to school, because the two motorcycles were stolen.
Police then put them in its patrol and took them to the Mukono police station.
However, police later arrested him and took us home to the apartment where he lived and we found two other children including Whitney Tendo and Mudondo Emma who was also disabilities and showed us the photos of motorcycles including UFQ 047W and UFB 516K when the first motorcycle was stolen from him as he was entering Mabira forest, and the second one was stolen from him from Mbalala town in the broad day light after put a knife on him.
He added that he recognized the person who stole his motorcycle, and once he saw him in the town and chased him until he was arrested and took him to the Mukono police station who h later identified himself as Abdu Shakul and during the interrogation he revealed to police the man who sent them to steal the motorcycle and gave the number of the rich man to the police and he is now on remand in Luzira government prison.
He even said that after the arrest of the thief of his motorcycle, the allegedly rich man called him and told him that in two motorcycles he is already dismantled them into spare parts and the only thing he can do for him Is to give him 2 million Uganda Shillings that if he refuses the money he will not get any help because he is dealing with the police officer who is handling the case.
However, what brought him to protest was that the police asked for money to track down the rich man's phone so that he could be arrested but after few days they called him again to go to the police and pick back his money, saying that the police failed to track the phone a rich man.
We visited Kikubankima village in Mukono municipality, where the alleged home of a rich man when he has already fled and put the house on the padlock.
Some of the bodaboda leaders in the Mukono Central Division, led by their secretary, Anatoli Wamala, have condemned the system in the law enforcement agencies handling the cases concerning bodaboda and urged the bodaboda riders to be careful when driving passengers.
However, our effort to reach the so called main suspect fell apart after failing to pick up his known number.
Kampala Metropolitan Police Spokesperson Patrick Onyango says that the complainant came back to the Police for guidance and was advised to be patient as investigations are ongoing.
The businessman is still at large, though in hiding, but he is being tracked.
