Fake police officer fleeces Ugandan motorists during curfew
Wednesday October 06 2021
Ugandan police on patrol in Kampala. According to a police report, the man impersonating security officers was caught after stopping two off-duty security officers. PHOTO | DAILY MONITOR | NMG
Luck has run out on a civilian who was allegedly impersonating Ugandan security officers to extort money from members of the public after he attempted to arrest plainclothes police during his illegal curfew operations.
Mr Allan Mukisa, a resident of Busega, a neighbourhood in Uganda's capital Kampala, was in the habit of impounding cars after curfew and receiving bribes from motorists before letting them go.
He has since been charged in a Ugandan court with impersonation and obtaining money by false pretence before being remanded to Kitalya prison last week.
Mr Mukisa denied the charges.
He was caught after local residents recently complained about a plain clothes police officer who had been making arrests and accepting bribes, prompting the officer-in-charge of Nateete Police Station, Assistant Superintendent of Police Hassan Ssekalema, to order an investigation.
According to the police report, the man was caught after stopping two off-duty security officers, ASP Juma Mustafa and military officer Darius Kanyesigye, who were running personal errands.
The accused stopped them over unclear offences in Busega Township and allegedly identified himself as a police officer. This prompted ASP Mustafa, who is in charge of Busega Police Post, to arrest him after realising the man wasn’t among the officers under his jurisdiction.
Kampala Metropolitan police deputy spokesperson, Luke Owoyesigyire, said the officers found that the suspect had impounded several motorists for various traffic offences.
The suspect was quickly apprehended and taken to Nateete Police Station. But even at the station, the suspect insisted that he was a police officer and was released on police bond.
Investigations, however, later revealed that Mukisa was indeed not a police officer leading to his re-arrest.
“The state attorney sanctioned the file. We took him to court where he was remanded. We should strongly condemn such people who spoil the image of the police when they act as law enforcement officers when they aren’t,” ASP Owoyesigyire said.