We broke the story about how rally driver Ponsiano Lwakataka was arrested — now he has had a gun permit for his legally-held firearm revoked following his arrest last Friday with immature fish in Mbarara District en route to DR Congo.
Mr Lwakataka was was formally notified by the Inspector General of Police Gen Kale Kayihura’s office a day after he released DPC of Sheema district SP Innocent Mubangizi under questionable circumstances.
Brandishing
The former rally driver “remains a prime suspect and will be re-arrested and charged with smuggling of immature fish and threatening violence with a fire arm”, says police spokesman AIGP Andrew Felix Kaweesi.
The Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) said its revenue enforcement officers and police arrested Mr Lwakataka and his crew after a long chase. They also said Lwakataka was photographed drawing a firearm at someone.
“Mr Lwakataka pulled the driver, whom URA officers had hired to drive the truck back to Mbarara, out of the driver’s seat. When the driver resisted, Mr Lwakataka pointed a pistol at him and drove off the truck,” one of the URA officers said.
The rally driver “remains a prime suspect and will be re-arrested and charged with smuggling of immature fish and threatening violence with a fire arm”.
And Police insists “there is evidence that SP Mubangizi misused his powers to release Lwakataka”.
Mubangizi is subsequently charged with criminal negligence, aiding and abating crime.
Uganda’s gun policy
In 2012, the government unveiled a new gun policy that seeks to oversee the acquisition, use and storage of fire arms. The policy unveiled by Uganda National Focal Point on Small and Light Weapon called for the replacement of the 1970 Firearm Act that only regulates ownership of firearms held by individuals while those held by police and security agencies are governed under separate laws.
A study titled; Analysis of Armed Crimes, released in Kigali in July, conducted by the Regional Centre on Small Arms in conjunction with the African Development Bank between 2010 and 2014 shows that an alarming 43,512 armed crimes happened in the country.
Gen. Kayihura last year tasked MPs to review the country’s gun policy, especially on private fire arm ownership to enable police make ‘restrictions’ on its issuance because a third of Ugandans have the capacity of owning guns by now like in the United States of America and chances are the crime rates may be higher here.
