Chinese national Lee loses Shs 200m to thieves on Martin road 

Four days ago, a Chinese national opened fire indiscriminately on Martin road in Kampala city, forcing people to scamper to safety. Preliminary investigations conducted by the crime intelligence (CI) shed light on the motivations behind this shooting incident.

It was revealed that Lee Shao resorted to firing his weapon after a group of thieves on four motorcycles forcibly stole his bag, which contained a substantial sum of money. 

Lee recounted the harrowing ordeal to authorities at Kampala central police station (CPS) and CI detectives, stating, “I had 200 million shillings in my bag and I was using a boda boda when a group of men attacked me and took my money. I was confused and I remembered to shoot them when they had fled the scene.”

Luke Owoyesigyire, the deputy Kampala Metropolitan police spokesperson, confirmed that the police are now investigating the Shs 200 million robbery case. He emphasized that many individuals, especially foreigners, have fallen victim to criminals due to carrying large sums of money without adequate security measures. 

“We have exhibited the gun and also recorded his statement. The crime intelligence team is searching for the robbers. We, however, want to use this incident to warn people against carrying such an amount of money without enough security,” Owoyesigyire said.

In a similar case that occurred earlier in September, Ito Okira, a Japanese expert lost his life after being attacked by individuals wearing NRM party t-shirts. The incident took place during President Yoweri Museveni’s 79th birthday celebrations, and it garnered attention on social media.

Ito had been contracted by Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) to improve road junctions with the aim of reducing traffic congestion. Thieves accessed his bag containing money behind his car seat at Centenary Park. In an attempt to retrieve his belongings, Ito confronted the thieves, who struck him with a blunt object. He fell into a coma and succumbed to his injuries three weeks later. 

Owoyesigyire stated that efforts are underway to identify the motorcycles used by the robbers who targeted Lee. Similar to the Ito case, CCTVs will be utilized to gather information about the culprits. While the initial charges against Ito’s attackers were related to aggravated robbery, these charges were later amended to include murder following his death.