By Andrew Bagala
ANDREW BAGALAKAMPALA- The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has recalled a file in which it had sanctioned theft charges against two taxi operators after police discovered that the complainant made false claims to demand money from them.Mr Sam Mukooza, alias James Kakooza Kaja, had convinced police and DPP that his laptop and other valuables had been stolen in a taxi driven by Mr Livingstone Mpagi and his conductor, Mr Nuwa Lutaaya, in July at Wandegeya, Kampala City.The Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson, Mr Patrick Onyango, said they later found out that the complainant had made false allegations to demand money from other motorists after reporting fake cases to police.“The Resident State Attorney has recalled the file to review the charges against the two taxi operators. The man who made the false claims was arrested and charged in court,” Mr Onyango said yesterday. Advertisement
There have been several incidents in which people report to police that they are victims of accidents or robberies in vehicles with the intention of extorting money from unsuspecting motorists.Mr Onyango said police came to know about the suspect’s alleged criminal activity when a new victim, also a taxi driver only identified as Mr Ssentongo, was coincidentally escorted by Mr Mpagi to Kanyanya Police Station where his taxi had been impounded on allegations of robbery of a passenger.“At Kanyanya Police Station, Mr Mpagi saw that the complainant was the same person who alleged he had stolen his property in a taxi in Wandegeya. The complainant was using a different name,” he said.Other casesIt was established that the suspect was the same person in two other incidents where a male passenger reported a case of theft in a taxi by a conductor and taxi driver in Bweyogerere, Wakiso District and Wandegeya in Kampala City.In Mr Mpagi’s incident where the theft case file had been sanctioned, he had demanded Shs1.6 million from the victims to drop the case.“They settled at Shs350,000 which the victim paid him as compensation for his lost property. When the file was sanctioned and we wanted to take the taxi operators to court, he resisted the action, saying he was no longer interested in the case,” he said.The detectives halted the production of the taxi operators in court since the main witness had become hostile.
