Reports LeoOdera Omolo
THE Police in Tororo are hunting for a Catholic priest in connection with theft of a car worth sh13m, NEWVISION has reported..
Father Gerald Mangada attached to Kwapa Catholic parish of Tororo diocese allegedly hired a saloon car registration UAL 395T, Toyota Premo in Tororo on September 4, only to sell it in Kampala at sh6.1m before he disappeared.
According to the Police, the vehicle was recovered from the buyer after a two-week search by the Police Rapid Response Unit.
The Tororo district officer in charge of crime, Isabella Amejja, said on Monday that a criminal file No.CRB18/95 had been opened against the priest.
Police records indicate that Mangada hired the saloon car from David Wakela, a special-hire driver in Tororo town.
“The priest hired the vehicle on self-drive terms, only to disappear with it for two weeks,” Wakela said.
Godfrey Okurwon, the owner of the car, said Wakela used to make his remittances on a weekly basis.
“When my driver could neither make his remittances nor trace my vehicle, I reported the matter to Tororo Central Police Station.”
The officer in charge of the Police station, Aggrey Isabirye, said detectives visited the Catholic diocese in Kwapa to establish whether fellow priests there knew the whereabouts of Mangada, but did not receive a good reception.
“The residence was almost empty as the priest had already taken away nearly all his valuables,” said Isabirye.
He said the priest is believed to have left the country.
David Ogwang, a longtime friend of the priest, said he unknowingly negotiated the sale of the car.
“The priest called me to look out for a potential buyer of a saloon car, saying he had an urgent problem,” Ogwang said in a statement to the Police.
Ogwang, who had no reason to doubt his friend, sourced for the buyer who agreed to pay sh6.1m.
In the sale agreement, the buyer agreed to pay sh5m in cash and the rest in three days.
“The buyer agreed to obtain the logbook of the car upon clearance of the sh1.1m balance,” Ogwang stated.
He said he only discovered that the sale was fraudulent after the buyer paid the balance. For days, he tried to trace the priest, both physically and on phone, but failed to get him, he narrated.
“The car buyer gave me a lot of headache yet I could not trace the priest.”
He said one of the priests informed him in confidence that the priest had disappeared.
Ogwang said he later learnt that the vehicle did not belong to the priest. “I could not believe that Fr. Mangada could engage in such an illegal transaction,” he said.
Ogwang said he immediately reported to the Police.
“I was compelled to sell my new RAV4 car at sh12m to pay the buyer,” he lamented.
Okurwon said he recovered his car at Old Kampala Police Station but added that he was unhappy because it was damaged.
Okurwon has demanded over sh4m from the Catholic diocese of Tororo as compensation for the damage.
“I’ve had audience with the authorities of the Tororo Catholic diocese but they insisted that they had to consult their lawyer,” said Okurwon.
Efforts to get a comment from the Catholic church in Tororo were fruitless. Archbishop Dennis Lote Kiwanuka declined to talk to the New Vision reporter who visited the diocesan office at St. Peter’s College, Tororo.
Ends