Massive hunt on for gangsters

Police have launched a special operation in the Lake Victoria zone hunting for the gangsters behind Sunday’s killings of 16 people in Bunda and Ukerewe districts.
The Mwanza Regional Police Commander, Jamal Rwambow told The Guardian yesterday that most of the gangsters were hiding in Lake Victoria’s islands and that the operation will target the area.
“We have decided to launch a special operation in the whole of Lake zone, including the districts and islands in Kagera, Mwanza and Mara regions in search of these thugs,” he said.
The news came amid reports that regional crime officers, Heads of operations and police staff officers countrywide were attending a week-long training, which some people attributed to giving room to the thugs to strike.
However, the police spokesperson ACP Abdallah Msika said there was no link between the incidents.
“There is no power vacuum. There are other police officers taking charge of all security matters in all the regions. In fact this is not the first time we have this kind of workshop. We have been doing this for a long time,” he said.
Msika insisted that the workshop had been planned for a long time and was set in a police calendar to be conducted at this time to sharpen the commanders’ skills.
Rwambow also said that police were using a helicopter and boats to conduct the operation offshore and in the islands.
The RPC said the culprits have been using the islands as their hiding places after committing crimes in various parts of the lake zone.
He, however, said it has been difficult to get feedback from the field because of communication barriers.
The Mwanza and Musoma incident prompted the Director of Criminal Investigations, Robert Manumba to immediately leave the training workshop for Ukerewe to assess the situation on the ground.
“We had the DCI here, but he has left for Mwanza on the same issue,” said Msika.
On Sunday, 16 people were shot dead and 18 others seriously injured by people suspected to be gangsters in Ukerewe District, Mwanza Region and Bunda District in Mara Region.
Earlier on, Rwambow had visited the wounded at Bugando hospital whose conditions, according to the Acting Ukerewe district medical officer Faustine Nkinga, were serious and that medical experts were working hard to save their lives.
The officer said most of them had to undergo surgery in order to remove bullets from their bodies.
Police reports said the incident occurred yesterday at Izinga Island where armed thugs invaded guest houses.