KAMPALA, Uganda | Court in Nakasongola district has remanded a suspected notorious cattle thief with charges of aggravated robbery, conspiracy to commit crime and cattle theft.

Ronald Masembe a resident of Busula trading center was arrested after he was accused of masterminding the theft of cattle, this was after reports that he was named in several cases of cattle theft in Nakasongola,Masindi,Luwero and Kiryandongo districts.

Masembe together with his accomplice Godwin Tayebwa appeared before Nakasongola Chief Magistrate Hope Bagyenda and cattle theft charges were read to them .The prosecution led by Robert Ndayiro said that Masembe with Tayebwa and others at large on the 6th February 2025 armed with pangas robbed three heads of cattle worth over eight million shillings from Geoffrey Rwankoozi a resident of Bujjabe village in Nakitoma sub county and also conspired to commit a crime at bujjabe village.

Ndyiro further told court that they were able to recover 16 out of 25 stolen cattle from Masembe and others have never been found to date. He asked court to convict Masembe and award him a maximum sentence to save others from his crimes.

But Masembe denied the case and during the cross-examination, he challenged Ndayiro to tell the court how he was dressed on the day he was arrested. The Nakasongola Chief Magistrate told Masembe that aggravated robbery cases were triable by the high court and would be committed thereafter the state completes investigations into the matter.

The Magistrate remanded Masembe and Tayebwa to Nakasongola Prison until the 7th April when they will be brought to court for further hearing and mentioning of their other cases.

According to the Annual Crime Report, at least 143 cases of cattle theft were reported in Nakasongola in the year 2024 and the district is ranked in the fifth position with the highest cases of cattle theft across the country.