Uganda: What Sobi's Death Tells Us of State's Criminal Enterprise

Paddy Sserunjogi, the infamous gang leader who ran a lowlife criminal enterprise in the heart of Kampala, enjoying free reign under the watch of intelligence services, and whose moniker - 'Sobi' - was linked to some of the most daring robberies and deaths around town, died early this week.

He was estimated to be close to 50 years old. Sobi's death, reportedly at the hands of an angry mob that had failed to amicably settle a land dispute in Gomba district, more than 80 kilometres west of Kampala - marked a poetic climax to the way he pretty much lived his life - always in the thick of fights.

The police said in a statement that "a group of 50 people armed with sticks, pangas, and spears attacked another group, resulting in the death of one person (Sobi)." It added that more people were killed, although their bodies were not recovered. Only Sobi's had been retrieved.

Social media, especially X formerly known as Twitter, received Sobi's death with mixed reactions, with some saying that our streets are a lot safer with the notorious rogue gone, while others pitied a man who had outlived his usefulness in executing the state's offbook operations.

It is the way Sobi bragged about his grisly executions on national TV that has left many with a chilling memory of him. In one interview, Sobi boasted: "We strangle people to death if there is anything we need from them."

That no arrest or charges were brought against Sobi even after he had confessed his crimes publicly pointed to the deep-state power he enjoyed, and all the temptations that blind such criminals from figuring out just how far their powers reach. Ultimately, Sobi's confessions showed so much of what has gone wrong in Uganda.

In another interview, while donning a black T-shirt with the words "Bazzukulu ba Museveni" (grand children of Museveni), and shorts, he said: "I am a fearless man" He later declared with so much bravado, "Nobody can determine my death other than God. I don't fear anything in Museveni's regime."

Like many criminals before him, Sobi's vision was blurred by the unfettered state power he enjoyed. He failed to figure out that this state power is simply fragile and fleeting. His days, as sure as night falls day, were numbered. Sobi's story is not that much different from other gang lords that prowl around Kampala, causing mayhem.

A leader of the Kifeesi criminal gang, Sobi broke onto the public limelight nearly 10 years ago when his name was feared and revered in equal measure for his audacious crimes. He did all sorts of crimes; he broke into cars and homes to steal anything that appeared valuable.

He kidnapped, and sometimes killed people, for money. No price was too high for him to commit a crime. No line was too thick or hazy for him to cross. During the day, he, together with his squad of rowdy boys - high on anything illicit they could sniff or drink - ran amok around Kampala, terrorising pedestrians. And in the night, Sobi retreated to suburbs such as Nansana, waylaying commuters and manning illegal roadblocks.

In all this, Sobi was armed with guns and other deadly weapons. His army of ruthless thugs took his word as supreme. Uganda's state intelligence knew him quite well. Kaka Bagyenda, one of Uganda's renowned intelligence honchos, who headed the Internal Security Organisation, let Sobi scavenge the city for easy prey, for as long as the thug delivered on some of the state's offbook assignments.

At the time Sobi burst onto the scene, Kampala had taken a drastic political shift as voters' fatigue over the government's failure to deliver the services it had promised appeared to have peaked.

The emergence of Robert Kyagulanyi, also known as Bobi Wine, and his People Power movement, which appeared to be ready to take on the state's security outfits on street combats, presented government with a headache. Pouring the army on the street to quell riots by youths armed with stones appeared to be an expensive move.

Social media would be awash with bloody images that would taint Uganda's profile and trigger international concern over the spate of human rights abuses in the country. And yet, Bobi Wine did not just appeal to the youths; he played right into the tribal card of Buganda.

Not only are the youths who dominate the riots that break out in downtown Kampala, Baganda. Neutralising the emergence of Buganda youths dominated some of the intelligence briefs that piled on Kaka Bagyenda's desk at the Internal Security Organisation (ISO), according to our sources.

Getting spineless Baganda youths to take on their fellow tribesmates during riots and kidnaps became a strategy that the state would employ. The army would only be called in if the situation got out of hand. For easy money - and fleeting power - these Baganda men like Sobi fell for the idea.

Whenever the state needed boys to go and carry out a sensitive mission, Sobi and his gang was on hand to deliver. That was the kind of task that Zebra Senyange, also known as Mando, a former national boxer turned street thug, had. They all worked for the state.

Sobi and Mando's boys were also information gatherers for the state. They would infiltrate groups of people and pick out any plans of possible riots. They would then report to their bosses at ISO. For a long time, these boys fought fellow rioters in downtown Kampala, and the state achieved its objectives.

There are claims that Sobi was one of the men who participated in the kidnap of many youths of Bobi Wine's National Unity Platform in the run-up to the 2021 general elections, a big number of whom have never resurfaced, while others remain unaccounted for.

After Bagyenda was moved from ISO in October 2020, the future of thugs such as Zebra Ssenyange and Paddy Sserunjogi all of a sudden turned bleak. Two months after Bagyenda left ISO, Mando was gunned down by a group of elite army men in Bwaise in unclear circumstances that grabbed the attention of President Museveni.

In a rare apology, Museveni said the killing of Ssenyange was an error. Nearly two years after Mando's death, Sobi was killed in a suspicious manner.

There are similarities in Mando and Sobi's deaths. No suspects have been arrested. No witnesses have come forward to help with the investigations. For two thugs who moved with groups of boys, they died alone in what many will feel was an apparent execution.

Uganda: What Sobi's Death Tells Us of State's Criminal Enterprise

Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters

Success!

Error!

Error!