By John V Sserwaniko
Suleiman Lumolo Mafabi, the famous Mugisu tycoon who owns the car importing business Kampala Modernity, has reported to Jinja Road police station saying his life is in danger. In his complainant statement, Lumolo accuses Deo Matsanga his long term employee, advisor and ally of being the man plotting his assassination. He doesn’t disclose reasons why Matsanga, who years ago used his State House political connections to protect his boss’ business interests against URA and former trade Minister Janet Mukwaya, would all of a sudden wish to bump him off. We spoke to Matsanga who vehemently denied complicit in such a plot. “It’s true I have been summoned by police where my boss reported me and I’m really at a loss to understand how such a thing came to his mind,” Matsanga said in a phone interview with this news website a short while ago.
We at Mulengera news have been trying for days to reach Lumolo for his comment in vain. He has so far not taken our phone calls. Neither has he been enthusiastic about our repeated text messages. In his absence, we rang Mr. Abdullah Jeffery one of Lumolo’s co-directors at Kampala Modernity based in Industrial Area. At first he advised us to come to office and talk to Lumolo himself on Monday but when we insisted news had to be timely lest the story perishes, Jeffery reluctantly explained as follows: “It’s true my Chairman [Lumolo] reported the case to Police of Jinja Road but since I’m just a Director and this is something concerning him personally, you will still have to come on Monday and he gives a more detailed account.” Police sources close to Agaba, who is the Station’s OC, say that trouble started in December towards Christmas when Lumolo sat in Lugogo with guys known to be Matsanga haters and rung the DPC Jinja road asking him to send detectives to record his statement.
Police sources say that in that Lugogo meeting, Lumolo was flanked by other Kampala Modernity Directors namely Abdullah Jeffery, Rashid Lwanga and Charles Egesa. According to Police sources, the four Directors were joined by Mbale district NRM Chairman (tycoon) Mohamood Masaba and Sula Kimbugwe. Preliminary investigations by CIID Director Grace Akullo, who took over the case over fears that Jinja road was being used to traumatize Matsanga, show that the duo of Mohamood and Kimbugwe have for long been at loggerheads with Matsanga over supremacy concerns regarding who should be the biggest NRM king maker in Elgon area. In January 2018, police sources add, that another meeting was held at a restaurant in UMA grounds Lugogo where police operatives were called to receive additional information on the alleged assassination plot. After that meeting, Jinja road police operatives under OC Agaba were convinced there was compelling evidence against Matsanga. They made phone calls asking him to immediately report to Jinja road failure of which Flying Squad operatives would be unleashed to hunt for him. Matsanga became nervous and consulted a top General very close to Salim Saleh and the General advised him not to go there.
“Those guys are deadly. They will torture you and eventually throw you in Luzira and humiliate you which won’t be good because you are our good cadre,” the General reportedly advised Matsanga. The same General, who knows a lot about the duo’s long term relationship, offered to speak to Lumolo to push reconciliation with Matsanga. Unfortunately, Lumolo told him “sorry general I appreciate your initiative but I’m away in Mombasa for business.”
AKULLO WEIGHS IN: They agreed to link up later but instead the Jinja road police operatives insisted they had a lot of evidence against Matsanga. This is when the same General helped Matsanga to urgently link up with Grace Akullo, the CIID Director, who immediately drove to Jinja road and took away the entire file and asked the Jinja Road OC Agaba to back off. Arrangements were even made to beef up Matsanga’s personal security after his family raised fears that some people want to kidnap him. And prior to all this, the 4 Kampala Modernity Directors summoned Matsanga to a meeting at the Kololo restaurant behind Nyonyi Ntono Gardens. Police sources say they showed him a letter they said he had written to the President complaining about Mohamood Masaba who is a big client for the car business. The letter was questioning why Mohamood Masaba still uses garage number plates on the two posh cars he bought two years ago from Kampala Modernity. They are both Fortuner cars including one Masaba continues to drive under number plate UD10116. One is Pearl White and the other black. He was interrogated as to why he would write such a letter insinuating that Mohamood Masaba, who is a big customer for the car bond, wasn’t paying enough taxes. The meeting adjourned with Matsanga vehemently denying authoring the letter. The Directors insisted “you did.” Days later, Abdullah Jeffery, who told us in the phone interview that Matsanga has never been their employee, met him on Lumolo’s behalf to announce he had been fired. “Why does he go through you rather than telling me personally because that isn’t how I was recruited?” Matsanga protested. He demanded being given some good send off package since this had come up suddenly. He indicated he wouldn’t leave until his demands were met. It appears the Kampala Modernity bosses took this to be tantamount to threatening Lumolo’s life. In the days that followed, Mohamood Masaba’s henchmen took to social media to announce the expulsion of “the man in charge of watchmen at Kampala Modernity.” This was in reference to Matsanga who, since 2005, has served as Chief Administrator at Kampala Modernity. Reliable police sources say that, insisting his life is in danger, Lumolo who is also the powerful NRM chairman in Sironko has been demanding increased security on grounds that Matsanga’s men want to bump him off. He says he has so far survived because of God’s grace and protection. Matsanga maintains he is being framed because Lumolo wants to appease Mohamood Masaba, his long term friend and customer at Kampala Modernity. He says Mohamood Masaba first antagonized him with IGP Kale Kayihura and has now succeeded creating a wedge between him and Lumolo, the man he greatly helped to establish strong business ties with NRM bosses in Kampala. Watch this space for our follow up story in which we shall expose the political and economic deals that have kept Lumolo and Matsanga closely working together for all these years .For comments on this and other Mulengera news stories, call/text us on 0703164755.
