Police in Mpigi district are investigating circumstances under which unidentified man attacked a prison wardress attached to Mpigi prisons service and stolen a gun from her.
According to police in the area the prisin wardress identified as Hadijah Katono was attacked on Monday afternoon during a downpour while guarding prisoners in Mpigi Town council.
“It is unfortunate that we haven’t received the gun (AK- 47) yet our preliminary investigation shows that the prison wardress was on whatsapp before the attacker stole the gun from her”, MR Joab Wabwire, Mpigi district police commander said.
Eyewitnesses told this reporyer that the “attacker” came with an arrow, slapped the prison warders twice and picked the gun from he before escaping from the scene of crime to nearby forest.
“We have a problem of having inadequate security manpower at mpigi prison . To make matters worse, our warders and villages making some money.
They are usually paid shs 20,000 when they take some prisoners to dig for some from owners so we end up lacking the required security here”, a security officer who preferred anonymity because he is not the official spokesperson for Uganda prisons service said. MR Majid Lubowa, a businessman in Mpigi Town council advised prisons authorities to deploy the army around the prison and its neighborhood to tighten security.
The prison wardress is currently detained at Mpigi central police station pending further investigations into the matter as the person who took off with the gun is still being hunted. This has created tension and fear among residents in Mpigi district suspecting that the stolen gun could be used to terrorise communities.
