The ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) has described as untrue allegations that money worth billions belonging to the party was last month stolen from the home of its national treasurer, Ambassador Barbra Oundo Nekesa, belonged to they party.
Nekesa who lives at Muyenga in Kampala, is wife to Business magnate, Hajji Suleiman Mafabi Lumolo.
According to police, the robbery occurred on the night of December 5, 2023, when four police officers collaborated with counterterrorism policeman Michael Wango, who had been guarding the residence for the past one and a half months, and forced themselves in the house, and walked away with the money.
Ambassador Nekesa, who was alone in the house, would the following day report theft of Shs 41 million. However, she later discovered, upon her husband Mafabi’s return, that Shs 2.2 billion had also been stolen.
Reports have since been make rounds that the stolen money belonged to NRM party given Nekesa’s position, something that attracted condemnation from public as netizens wondered why such party’s huge sums of party money would be kept in one’s private residence.
The claims, however, have been diminished by Rogers Mulindwa, the party’s publicist. He says they party did not lose any of its money, describing the reports as a smear campaign against the party and its national treasurer.
“Why are people hellbent on tarnishing Amb. Nekesa and the NRM? What do they intend to achieve in propagating such unfounded claims?” asked Mulindwa before adding that: “Whatever their motive is, the smear campaign and blackmail of our Secretariat Senior staff will not divide us. We shall keep focused on manifesto implementation and other party activities. In fact, very soon, we will roll out field works.”
Given the sums of money involved, the party, through its national chairman, President Yoweri Museveni, would have ordered for investigations if at all money belonging to the party was lost, or at least an official communication to the effect would have been made, something that has not happened.
This authoritative news website has since established that the stolen money was actually for her husband Mafabi, who had brought the money to accomplish some business transactions.
Another senior party official who preferred anonymity told Plus News in a phone call that: “the public should treat the allegations with the contempt they deserve because those who advance that line are selfish individuals who want to achieve selfish interests at the expense of NRM.”
How the attack unfolded
On December 5, 2023, Ambassador Barbra Oundo Nekesa, who was alone at home, faced an attack by four men identified as police officers Dominic Idro, Rogers Nuwagaba, Sharif Mugoya, and Edgar Arinda.
The Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) found that these attackers were invited by counterterrorism policeman Michael Wango, who had been guarding the residence for the past one and a half months.
Wango, aware of the significant sums of money kept in the residence by Nekesa and Mafabi, played a crucial role in facilitating the robbery. He disconnected the electricity on the razor fence, altered the direction of CCTV cameras to avoid detection, and switched off lights in a corner of the perimeter wall, enabling the four police officers to scale it. Wango even agreed to fake minor injuries to disguise the incident as a robbery by strangers, according to CID detectives.
“Wango also switched off the lights in one of the corners of the perimeter wall on which the four police officers scaled. He agreed with his colleague to inflict minor injuries on him to disguise it as a robbery by strangers,” stated CID detectives in the report.
“Why are people hellbent on tarnishing Amb. Nekesa and the NRM? What do they intend to achieve in propagating such unfounded claims?” asked Mulindwa before adding that: “Whatever their motive is, the smear campaign and blackmail of our Secretariat Senior staff will not divide us. We shall keep focused on manifesto implementation and other party activities.”
Once inside, Arinda, Idro, Nuwagaba, and Mugoya attacked the maids in the boy’s quarters, coercing them to open the main house. At gunpoint, the maids led the officers to Nekesa’s bedroom, where the assailants demanded money.
The group then packed the money into five bags and took an iPhone before transporting the stolen funds into a banana plantation, where a bodaboda rider named Josh Kalinda awaited them.
“While inside, the group packed the money in five bags and also took an iPhone. They afterwards took the money into the banana plantation where a bodaboda rider Josh Kalinda was waiting for them,” investigators said.
During their more than 10-hour presence in the compound, the assailants took the DVR for the CCTV cameras upon leaving to erase any evidence of their actions. Initially reporting the theft of Shs 41 million, Ambassador Nekesa later discovered, upon her husband Mafabi’s return, that Shs 2.2 billion had also been stolen.
Forensic analysis of two guns supposedly used by the robbers revealed fingerprints belonging to Wango, who confessed after interrogation.
Police spokesperson Fred Enanga disclosed that the stolen money was taken to Nsambya police barracks and distributed among the perpetrators, with Wango receiving Shs 200 million, Kalinda Shs 20 million, and Mugoya Shs 230 million.
Additional suspects, including Samuel Opio, Patrick Aponyo, Matia Lulangwa, Pallaso, and Masembe, were arrested when found sharing money from a sack containing some of the stolen funds, bringing the total number of detainees to 12.