Residents of Kakiika in Mbarara Municipality yesterday shocked their Resident District Commissioner Capt Martha Asiimwe, when they voted one of their long serving local council leaders amongst the most notorious criminals in the area.
Benon Mugume, the area’s former LC3 Chairman was voted by locals as the second most dangerous cattle thief during a security meeting.
The meeting was called by Mbarara RDC Capt. Asiimwe in which she asked the locals to point at the people they believe have been causing insecurity in their area.
The RDC however was startled to see Mr. Mugume voted amongst the topmost criminals in the sub county he has led since 2006.
Mugume, a known strong National Resistance Movement politician was defeated in the recently concluded elections by independent candidate Gumisiriza Burazio Kyabwisho. His efforts to overturn the election results were fruitless as his case was thrown out of court.
Mugume is a man of many controversies. In November last year, he was caught pants down with one of his neighbors’ wife.
Residents told the RDC during the meeting that Mugume heads a notorious gang of thieves who raid people’s farms from as far as Kasese, steal cattle and slaughter them. In this group they said, are a number Rwandan nationals who have Ugandan national identity cards.
During the meeting, Mbarara District Police Commander Jaffar Magezi blamed the increasing crime rate in the area on the ineffective and corrupt Local Council system.
He promised that Mugume and all those that were voted by the locals would be summoned or arrested and screened by police.