The police in Bukomansimbi are currently investigating circumstances under which a fully loaded gun belonging to the police was dropped by two thugs who had gone to rob a petrol station in Bukomansimbi district.

Preliminary information indicates that the incident occurred on April 2, 2024, at approximately 4:00 a.m. when residents of Kawoko town in Butenga subcounty, Bukomansimbi district, had a restless night fighting with thieves who had come to rob a fellow resident and a gas station with a gun. They were eventually forced to leave it behind, and upon inspection, the district leaders confirmed that it belonged to the Uganda police.

During an interview with journalists on April 2, 2024, Bonny Mutyaba, a barber living near the petrol station that the thieves wanted to rob, said that the thugs first dug a big hole into his house, and when he saw one of them inside, he fought him off aggressively.

“We fought violently until we lost our balance, and then we exited through the hole he and his companion had dug out. Later, when my son informed me that they had left the gun in my house, his partner attacked me to retrieve it, but I defeated them, and they fled when some neighbors arrived to assist me,” Mutyaba narrated.

According to Fred PaxKalema, the Bukomansimbi Resident District Commissioner (RDC), the gun was given to the District Police Commander (DPC) since it does not belong to Bukomansimbi, and the initials on the gun showed it belonged to Uganda Police. He said that more investigations are ongoing to ascertain the ownership of the gun.

’’The gun has been given to the DPC, but more investigations are being carried out to find out where it came from and the person who was supposed to be in its possession,’’ Kalema revealed.

The residents and LC V Chairperson of Kawoko town urged the government to investigate the matter and also compensate Mutyaba for his damaged property and money that was stolen from him as he was fighting off the thieves.