Thieves in Ntungamo District have lost fear of God and now targeting churches. Believed to be organised criminals,The thieves have stolen essential items like loud speakers, guitars, amplifiers, consoles, drums, pianos, laptops and projector machines from at least 15 churches since December 2024.
The South Ankole Diocesan Secretary Rev. Arthur Twinamatsiko, , expressed his angst, saying, “It is a challenge, we don’t know why these people are targeting churches for theft… The biggest problem is that they steal machines used for communication in church.”
“The first time they came, cut the burglar proofs and entered the church through the window from the dark side of the church. They were removing one after the other. When they had come for the remaining items, a man who was coming from a bar at 3:00am saw them and was suspicious, he called night guards and they chased them and got the machines back,” Rev Mwesigwa added.
“They finally took everyone off guard, took all the equipment on December 23, 2024. They also tried to take the generator but I think it was too heavy for them. God will enable us to have new ones,” he said.
In November and December, 2024, churches of Muriisa, Kyobwe, Kafunjo, and Bwongyera archdeaconry, under Church of Uganda reported that their machines were stolen.
Positively, Police have made some progress, impounding a lorry with stolen church sound equipment and arresting three suspects in January.
Mr Nelson Tumwiine, Ntungamo’s district police officer in charge of criminal investigations, highlighted the challenge of getting church leaders to follow up on cases after recovering their equipment.
“The church leaders are not normally interested in cases especially after recovering their equipment. When the Muriisa church recovered their equipment, they said they can’t continue with the case,” he explained.
He also noted that individual churches have been handling cases locally, which has retarded follow-up efforts.
