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Museveni aide's car found in Kenya

Tuesday June 04 2019
busia-pic

The Busia one-stop border crossing. Kenyan Flying Squad handed over stolen car belonging to President Yoweri Museveni spokesman Don Wanyama to Uganda police on June 3, 219 at Busia. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

By AGGREY MUTAMBO

Kenyan Police have recovered a stolen car belonging to Uganda President Yoweri Museveni’s aide and handed it back to him.

The car was found in Gilgil in the Rift Valley region of Kenya, bearing South Sudanese registration numbers.

Mr Don Wanyama, President Museveni’s Senior Press Secretary, on Tuesday told the Nation his car was found after months of searching.

“The Kenyan Flying Squad handed it to Uganda Police yesterday (Monday) at Busia. It was stolen last September from my home and taken to Kenya,” Mr Wanyama said, clearing the air over earlier reports that the car belonged to President Museveni.

The car, a Toyota Kulger, disappeared from a parking lot in Kampala and was found in April bearing fake Sudanese number plate SSD 598M.

Kenya’s Flying Squad officers said they received a tip-off from colleagues in Uganda, and began searching for the car. The vehicle was first spotted in Murang’a, central Kenya, before it was impounded in Gilgil.

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The car's chassis number did not match the South Sudanese registration, but marched details provided by Ugandan authorities.

Its occupants fled after defying orders to surrender, officials said at the time.

With the region’s porous borders, there has been an increase in cases where stolen vehicles are ferried to neighbouring countries and registration numbers changed, police say.

In November 2017, Kenyan banned South Sudanese registration numbers with the series CE, EE, SSJS, UNS, WS and NBGS after Juba regularised registration.
But with no shared database on vehicle registration, thieves are still able to clone number plates to dodge the police.

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