Police officer who shot dead money lender is mentally ill – Uganda Police

Ivan Wabwire, the police constable, who, on Friday afternoon shot and killed a moneylender is mentally ill, police have said.

Wabwire killed Uttam Bhandari inside Rajja Chambers along Parliament Avenue in Kampala following a disagreement over a loan repayment.

Kampala Metropolitan police spokesperson Patrick Onyango says Wabwire was diagnosed with a mental condition six years ago. According to Onyango, a decision was henceforth taken not to deploy him with a gun. Onyango added that the force has been deploying him in areas where he does not need a weapon. 

“Due to the suspect’s medical condition, police management at CPS Kampala had taken a decision about six years ago not to arm the suspect with a gun and they have been deploying him in beats that do require him to be armed. His current deployment was at a CCTV monitoring center,” Onyango said. 

According to police, Wabwire used a colleague’s gun, police constable Steven Mulambo with whom he was sharing a room to commit the crime.

“Due to limited accommodation, the suspect was sharing a house with a fellow police officer. His housemate had worked at night and didn’t return the gun to the armory instead he went with it to their house shortly, he got a call that his child was sick, he rushed to go and check on the child leaving the gun behind,” Onyango explained.

The police’s explanation came minutes after, President Yoweri Museveni, had raised six questions to the police force to answer in response to Wabwire’s shooting of Bhandari. First, Museveni wondered how the off-duty policeman accessed the gun.

Museveni also asked if Wabwire was on duty, and how he left his guard station to go and commit the crime without immediate supervisor’s notice. Museveni also questioned the rationale of keeping guards at police stations.

“How are the guns stored in the police? Is there no security at the site where the victim was?” Museveni said via Twitter.

Why did that local security allow an armed person into the building who had no guard business there? Then, there is the question of the mental state of this policeman. Did he have a history of mental instability? If he had, why hadn’t the police leadership noticed and acted appropriately? Museveni asked.

Onyango has said they are searching for Wabwire who disappeared after committing the crime. The CCTV footage retrieved from Rajja Chambers clearly shows how the suspect shot the victim.

The video shows Wabwire and Bhandari in an argument before the shooting incident happened. Onyango said the CCTV footage is very useful evidence during the trial.