Police Constable (PC) Steven Mulombo, the holder of a gun used in the fatal shooting of a man in a banking hall in Uganda has been dismissed from the police Force.
Mulombo’s firearm is said to have been used by the suspect, Constable Ivan Wabwire, who was seen on CCTV footage shooting and killing Uttam Bhandari, the director of a money-lending company TFS Financial Services on Friday, May 12.
It was reported that Mulombo was sharing a room with the suspect where he left his firearm unattended and Wabwire took advantage, using it to commit the crime.
Police spokesperson Fred Enanga, speaking on Monday, said that Mulombo’s negligence abetted the occurrence of the murder and it would have been avoided had he returned the firearm to the armory as he was required to.
“Our policy on the use of firearms demands that PC Mulombo should have returned the gun to the armoury before moving out of the station. But without lawful permission, he sneaked out of the station to attend to a personal matter, which is an outright case of gross indiscipline and negligence,” said Spokesperson Enanga as quoted by The Monitor.
“As a result, he has been charged in the disciplinary court with discreditable conduct and has been dismissed from the Force this morning.”
To avoid similar incidents in the future, Mr. Enanga stated that there is an underway plan to enrol police officers in refresher courses on gun handling and anger management.
“We are identifying police officers for refresher courses on gun handling, scenario-based exercises, anger management and de-escalation techniques,” he said.
Wabwire was apprehended at the Kenya-Busia border on Sunday while trying to flee.
He was then presented at the Buganda Road Court to record an extrajudicial statement.