Police are holding a man who appeared in a viral video attempting to rob money from a local businessman in Nateete, a Kampala City suburb.

The suspect has been identified as Kiiza Ashraf, an employee at Bashir Grain Millers.

ASP Luke Owoyesigire, the Kampala Metropolitan Deputy Police Spokesperson, said the suspect was arrested on Wednesday evening, May 15, 2024, from Kyotera district, where he fled into hiding.

According to Owoyesigire, the suspect is now being held at Nateete Police Station and will appear in court once his file is sanctioned by the Directorate of Public Prosecution, DPP.

“We have preferred charges of attempted murder against the suspect. We were able to track him through intelligence services, and he is now in our custody,” ASP Owoyesigire said.

According to Owoyesigire, the suspect’s motive was purely to rob money from their client; unfortunately, he didn’t succeed.

Police said Kiiza attacked Sam Turyamuhaki on Monday, May 14, 2024, at around 8 p.m. when he walked into the cash office with a machete and hammer.

In the video, Kiiza is seen placing the sack on the waiting chairs as Turyamuhaki counts money, seemingly unbothered.

However, Kiiza picks up a machete from the sack and orders Turyamuhaki to surrender the money he was counting. Instead, Turyamuhaki attempts to grab the attacker’s machete but misses it in the process.

Kiiza then descended on Turyamuhaki and hacked him on the head, attracting the intervention of other people who temporarily subdued him, but he eventually escaped.