A 49-year-old man on Tuesday, 21st May 2024, evening shocked residents of Elegu town, Amuru district at the Uganda-South Sudan border when he set his car ablaze in protest.
Suudi Balidawa, a driver and mechanic at Elegu reportedly drove his car, a Toyota Wish, registration no. UBE 852E to an open field where he doused its interior with petrol before setting it ablaze. The incident happened at about 5 pm at Lorikwo East village in Elegu, a few distance from Elegu police station.
Balidawa said in an interview that his action was fueled by what he alleged as targeted discrimination by a police officer for his Muslim faith. According to Balidawa, trouble started for him on May 7 this year when he accidentally knocked an old woman from Kanyanya in Kampala en route to Gulu city.
Balidawa said while he managed to transport the injured woman to Mulago National Referral Hospital for treatment, he never reported it to the police since he was transporting his daughter to St Mary’s Hospital Lacor for medical treatment.
He however noted that he met with the injured woman’s son and agreed to return to the hospital later for other arrangements regarding medical expenses. According to Balidawa, he received a phone call later from a police officer at Kanyanya police station who advised him to report the matter to any nearby police station which he heeded and reported to Elegu police station on May 9.
He was charged with an offence of road traffic accident registered under case No: TAR27A/2024 and later bonded but advised to report to Kanyanya police station the following day. Balidawa however alleged that while at Kanyanya police station, he was rudely treated by the officer in charge of the station and detained even when he had earlier been given a police bond from Elegu police station.
He alleged that after his release, the officer at Elegu police station gave an order to him not to drive the vehicle outside Elegu town council even when he had already paid for vehicle inspection, a move he says forced him to burn it down. Balidawa noted that he had already agreed with the family of the injured woman to pay Shs 3 million for medical expenses within 25 days adding that the first payment of Shs 1 million had already been made.
“That very evening, I went and boarded the vehicle. By 6 in the morning, I was already in Kampala. I went to the police station even before 7 a.m. I called the complainant Mr Eddie and told him that I was here at the station. Nobody took me there, I took myself. But when she [the police officer] came with her car, I went there and introduced myself before her that I was so and so who caused the accident but the way she answered me; she said: ‘You’re the one?’ I said ‘I’m the one’. She said ‘I wonder if all muslims are like you people. If all Muslims are like you guys, Muslims are really bad people. You’re bad-hearted.’ I said ‘How mummy? What have I done? I took the victim to the hospital and handed him over to the relative’,” said Balidawa.
David Ongom Mudong, Aswa West River Region police spokesperson on Wednesday said that the police have opened an investigation into Balidawa’s action to ascertain the motives. He said the police fire brigade personnel responded to the scene but found that fire had already consumed a great portion of the vehicle.
Mudong acknowledged that Balidawa had an active case of a traffic offence at Kanyanya police station in Kampala which was still under investigation by the traffic police.
“We want to understand why he burnt down his car since he already had a traffic accident offence in Kanyanya. the suspect could be having other hidden motives,” said Mudong.
URN understands that Balidawa was on Tuesday briefly held by the police at Elegu police station between 7 pm and 10 pm for interrogation on his actions before being set free without any charges. Mudong said the suspect would be charged with arson once the investigation is complete.
Uganda police: "Our attention has been drawn to a video of a one Suubi Balidawa setting ablaze of his vehicle, and we would like to state facts as follows;
On 7th May 2024 at 9:18 am at Muvule along Gayaza Road opposite Riham Depot, Suubi Balidawa, while driving a black Toyota Wish (registration number UBE 852 E) from Mpererwe towards Kalelwe, knocked and injured a pedestrian identified as Nakabaliki Naome, 58 years old, who was crossing the road to check on her son who works in the building across.
After the crash, Balidawa attempted to flee but was compelled by boda-boda riders to take the injured pedestrian to the hospital, which he agreed to do. However, on the way to the hospital, he transferred the victim from his vehicle to a hired motorcycle and parked his vehicle elsewhere to avoid being recognized at the hospital.
Balidawa shared his contact with the victim’s son but gave a false number plate for his vehicle in an attempt to evade justice.
Later that day, the victim’s son went to Kanyanya Police Station to check if Balidawa had reported the incident, which he had not. A case was registered under TSD 12/7/5/2024 (TAR 55/2024) by Kamuhanda Edward, the victim’s son. The traffic officer at the counter contacted Balidawa, who claimed he was taking his sick child to Gulu for treatment. The officer instructed him to hand over the vehicle to the nearest police station, but he did not comply.
On 9th May 2024, Suubi Balidawa reported the crash at Elegu Police Station, after the 24-hour mandatory period had passed. He was advised to return to Kanyanya Police Station to follow the proper investigation procedures, which he did not do.
On 14th May, Kamuhanda returned to Kanyanya Police Station for an update. The OC Traffic at Kanyanya received intelligence from Edward that Balidawa had reported to Elegu Police Station. The OC Traffic Kanyanya then called the OC at Elegu to confirm this information.
On 17th May 2024, at about 7:00 am, Suubi Balidawa reported to Kanyanya Police Station following the guidance of the OC Traffic Elegu. Upon presenting himself before the OC Traffic Kanyanya, he initially denied any involvement in the crash but was subsequently detained. The following day, while recording a statement, Balidawa confessed to providing a false number plate and accepted liability for the crash.
On 18th May, he was granted police bond and given a police form (PF 34) to produce his driving license, certificate of insurance, and registration book within five days for inspection. However, on 21st May 2024, a video surfaced on social media showing Balidawa burning the vehicle.
He was arrested at Elegu Police Station to assist with further investigations.
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