A mentally unstable police officer in Kampala, Uganda is wanted for murder after it was claimed that he shot and killed a money lender at Raja Chambers on Legislative Avenue.
Patrick Onyango, a spokesman for the Kampala Metropolitan Police, identified the shooter as PC Ivan Wabwire, badge number 67029.
The victim of the 1 pm shooting was identified as Uttam Bhandari, an Indian national and the director of TFS Financial Services.
“The client who is also a police officer called PC Ivan Wabwire first came yesterday (Thursday) and met the director of TFS financial services to verify how much he owed the company,” Onyango said.
According to reports, the police officer has been paying off two debts since 2020. The first loan was coded (deducted immediately from his paycheck), but not the second.
“He could just come and pay whenever he got the money for the second loan. They calculated and told him he owed the company Shs2, 130,000. Yesterday, he said the bank where they are paying his salary from wanted the calculations so that they can offset all the loan and see how they could progress with him. He had returned today (Thursday) for further verification,” Mr Onyango explained.
When he was told the amount, he got incensed and reportedly started arguing, dismissing the figure claiming that it was inflated.
“One of the workers who was inside said the officer first shot at the CCTV cameras inside the office. Everybody who was inside took off. We still don’t know what happened thereafter. We have called our CCTV team to come and retrieve the footage and analyse to see what happened,” Onyango said.
PC Wabwire, who is presently on the run, hopped on a boda boda bike after the shooting and sped to Kampala’s Central Police Station, where he left the weapon, an AK47.
However, police said he will be tracked and arrested.
“Uganda is very small. He will be got at any time. It’s very unfortunate that an officer of that caliber would resort to shooting instead of resolving the matter amicably,” the police publicist added.
As investigations proceed, Bhandari’s body was taken to the mortuary in Mulago City.
Bhandari was shot just a few days after State Minister for Labour Col. (Rtd.) Charles Okello Engola was shot at his home in Kyanja, a Kampala suburb, on May 2, 2023, by his security, Pte. Wilson Sabiiti. After the shooting, Pte. Sabiiti committed suicide.