Police forensic teams are analyzing CCTV footage from Naguru, an area with extensive camera coverage, to identify more suspects in the killing of Uganda Rugby Cranes star Sydney Gongodyo.
Gongodyo, 27, who also played for Stanbic Pirates Rugby Club, was killed on Friday after a mob attack in Kampala City suburb. The Rugby Cranes player had been accused of snatching a bag, an allegation yet to be proven. Videos circulating on social media show the helpless victim being assaulted by a group that includes boda boda riders. In one video, Gongodyo is hit on the head with a log as others beat him.
Gongodyo was attacked in Naguru Upper Zone, Bukoto I Parish, Nakawa Division, and pronounced dead at Mulago National Referral Hospital. Initial reports cited a road accident, but police in its preliminary investigations pointed to an attack over allegations he snatched a woman’s handbag.
His death has plunged Uganda’s rugby community into mourning. The mob killing has reignited public debate about boda boda riders’ involvement in violence and criminality. They have often been linked to acts of mob justice, with some joining in without asking what the victim allegedly did.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Kituuma Rusoke said police are following up leads and remain committed to ensuring all those responsible are brought to justice. So far, three suspects are in custody, and security teams have launched a manhunt for others who participated in the mob attack. “We have three suspects in custody, but more especially those who actively participated, will be arrested,” Kituuma said. “Our teams have already begun the hunt for the suspects. They can’t hide; we will get them.”
Rusoke has since condemned mob justice as unlawful and a danger to the rule of law. “We condemn mob action,” he said. “It is illegal, undermines the rule of law, and innocent people get killed. Don’t take the law into your own hands. If you detain a suspect, hand them over to police without torture or violence.”
Mob action accounted for 950 of the 4,238 murders recorded in the 2025 police crime report 22.4%. Police has warned that participants in mob violence can be charged with murder. “Mob killings can never be justified,” KItuuma warned. “Whether Sydney committed the alleged offence or not, killing him was wrong, even if a suspect is caught with evidence of a crime, they must be handed over to police for due process.”
But Kituuma has cautioned against blanket condemnation of the entire industry of boda-boda riders, saying a few individuals should not define the whole sector, rather serious interventions to streamline the big sector of boda-boda riders in the Country are needed.
Gongodyo’s death left Uganda’s rugby fraternity in deep mourning. Uganda Rugby Union President Godwin Kayangwe ordered the postponement of Sunday’s Uganda Rugby Premiership semifinal between Black Pirates and Heathens in honor of the fallen player. Mob action remains a significant contributor to violent deaths in Uganda, often fueled by public mistrust of the justice system and a tendency by some citizens to take the law into their own hands-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
