KAMPALA – Armed robbers have shot dead a mobile money agent in Fort Portal tourism city. The Rwenzori West Regional police spokesperson Vincent Twesige says the gunmen shot dead 29-year-old Rayan Kaahwa at his mobile money shop in Futi Butangwa cell, Butebe ward in North division.
Twesige says the incident happened at around 9:30 pm on Wednesday night when two men claiming to be customers approached the deceased and requested to withdraw Shillings 1.2 million. According to preliminary police findings, the gunmen shot Kaahwa in the shoulders and he fell down as he started initiating the withdraw.
Martin Ayebale, an eyewitness who reported the incident to police says that the robbers asked him to keep quiet or they shoot him too. “After warning him, the second thug opened the deceased’s drawer and grabbed the cash (amount yet to be established) before the two took off on foot and disappeared in the neighborhood,” says Twesige in a statement.
Twesige says by the time neighbours went to the scene, the thugs had already disappeared and it is at that time that the police rushed to the scene. The regional police spokesperson says two male suspects were arrested to assist in investigations because they had appeared around the scene a few minutes before the incident and had just hired a room in the same building.
According to family sources, Kaahwa was first rushed to Virika hospital in Fort Portal where he was pronounced dead on arrival. His body is now at Fort Portal Regional Referral Hospital awaiting postmortem as police investigations continue.
On Saturday, unknown gunmen also killed one person and injured two others critically in Kibiito sub county, Bunyangabu district as they robbed a mobile money agent. Three armed robbers attacked Robert Nyakaana, a mobile money agent and started beating him demanding money. They shot him in the leg before they made off with Shillings 300,000 and mobile phones worth Shillings 3.5 million.
