A mob of angry boda boda riders in Kyengera Town Council, Wakiso district, has killed a thief, identified by an alias name Kapo, aged between 25 and 28 years old, for stealing a boda boda.

The suspect was lynched to death on September 25, 2024, in Nanziga village, Kyengera Town Council in Wakiso district, after he was snitched on by his other fellow boda boda thug, identified as Muzafalu, who was found with the stolen boda boda in Masaka.

One boda boda rider in Nanziga called Yasin Wasswa revealed that on September 20, 2024, a boda boda rider called Bbale was attacked, badly injured, and his motorcycle stolen. However, the matter was reported to police, and the stolen motorcycle was recovered on September 25, 2024, with Muzafalu.

Wasswa added that when Muzafalu was arrested, the boda boda riders from Nanziga went to Masaka, questioned him, and he told them about the other thugs he works with in Wakiso and Masaka.

’’When these boda riders came back to Nanziga village, they started to hunt down the boda suspects; however, only Kapo was found in his rental house. He then was lynched to death by the angry boda boda riders,” Wasswa disclosed.

He added that as Kapo was being beaten, he also revealed the other thugs he works with.

Wasswa stated that the theft of boda bodas has increased in Kyengera Town Council, and this has left many boda riders dead and others severely injured, which has prompted the boda boda riders to start taking the law into their own hands by punishing and killing whoever is caught with a stolen boda boda.

The death of Kapo at the hands of an angry mob underscores a critical issue facing boda boda riders in Uganda and the rise of mob justice cases too. For example, on July 16, 2024, police arrested three suspects involved in a series of boda boda thefts and murders linked to the larger gang operating in Masaka and Wakiso districts. The arrests followed the recovery of stolen motorcycles equipped with tracking devices.