Police arrest Congolese national in Kampala stolen-phone trade probe

Police in Wakiso District have arrested a 34-year-old Congolese national suspected of dealing in stolen mobile phones and facilitating their movement across the border into the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The suspect, identified as Justine Kulimushi, was arrested on Thursday, 20 August 2026, after police received intelligence that he had returned to Uganda and was buying suspected stolen phones from Kalungi Plaza in Nansana.
“Police recovered 27 second-hand mobile phones of different makes and models, which had reportedly been factory-reset or flashed,” Luke Owoyesigyire, Deputy Public Relations Officer for Kampala Metropolitan Police, said.
Police said the arrest followed investigations into the theft of an iPhone worth about Shs3 million, reported at Nansana Police Station on 21 April. Investigators traced the phone to Kalungi Plaza before it was allegedly transported to Beni in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
Further intelligence suggested that Kulimushi regularly travelled to Uganda to buy stolen phones before they were transported to Congo. Police believe some of the 27 phones recovered during the operation may have been stolen from different parts of the Kampala metropolitan area and collected for resale.
Kulimushi remains in police custody as investigators work to establish the source of the recovered phones, trace their rightful owners and identify other people suspected of being involved in the alleged network.
Police have urged people who have lost mobile phones to report the cases to the nearest police station and provide details that could help investigators match recovered devices with their owners.