Car Cleaner Given 21 Months for Stealing Ugx 50M from Vehicle

The Buganda Road Chief Magistrates Court has sentenced 29-year-old car washer Vincent Mugabi to 21 months in prison after he was found guilty of stealing approximately 50 million shillings from his client’s vehicle. 

Mugabi, who worked at Red Basket Washing Bay and Restaurant opposite Spear House along Jinja Road in Kampala, was accused of stealing the money from a vehicle belonging to lawyer Nasser Sserunjogi, which he had been assigned to clean.

The sentence was delivered on Tuesday by Chief Magistrate Ronald Kayizzi, following Mugabi’s own plea of guilty and a plea bargain agreement with the complainant. Mugabi has already spent one year, two months, and 13 days on remand, which will be deducted from the 21-month sentence—leaving him with about six months and a few days to serve.

According to the court agreement, Mugabi will compensate the complainant within six months after completing his prison term. Court records show that on July 13, 2024, Mugabi, a resident of Makindye-Luwafu in Kampala, stole 3,300 US dollars (approximately Shs11.4 million), 9,000 Euros (approximately Shs36 million), and Shs2.5 million in cash from Sserunjogi’s Toyota Land Cruiser, registration number UBL 862U.

Sserunjogi told court that he had known Mugabi for about 11 years, during which Mugabi regularly cleaned his vehicles and had earned his trust, as he often left money in the car and always found it intact—until the day of the theft. Police investigations revealed that on the fateful day, Mugabi took the money, left the car keys with a colleague identified as Edgar, and disappeared around 7 p.m. When Sserunjogi returned to pick up his car, he found the money missing.

A case was filed at Central Police Station (CPS) Kampala, and Mugabi was later tracked and arrested at Tek Country Gardens in Buwama, Mpigi District. According to police records, he was found with Shs2.9 million and 5,200 Euros, which were recovered before his arrest.

He confessed to the crime in a statement recorded by Detective Constable Alex Kilama. Mugabi was convicted of stealing from a motor vehicle, contrary to Section 250(c) of the Penal Code Act.