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Dear readers, you recently read how Dr Frank Mwine was searched for drugs in the UK.
Dr Mwine is one of our "respectable" PhD holding Ugandans. An alumnus of Harvard Law School, he was also a consultant for the World bank and managing director of the former Uganda Commercial Bank (UCB).
We do not at this time have any information connecting the good Dr himself directly to this crime. Though the fact that his wife is a big time drug runner casts a shadow on his own integrity.
Criminals like drug runners, murderers, including so-called white collar crime like fraud, theft, embezzlement and forgery - are now one of our major exports. Whereas crime will always be with us to some extent, the biggest problem we are facing as Ugandans and citizens of the world is that this new breed of criminals are sponsored, protected and aided by people in the current government. Large sections of the Ugandan State have in effect become a criminal enterprise.
We are now dependent on the instituitional capacities of foreign governments to save us from these outlaws, and ourselves. Should you as a Ugandan passport holder receive special scrutiny at a port of arrival in a foreign land, at least you will know why.
Today we bring you a fact sheet concerning the Dr Mwine case. It is prepared by our reader F. A. (thank you!) in the UK.
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Hope Asiimwe is actually Dr Mwine's wife, they have been married for a nearly three years now and had a child last year, in December 2007.
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Hope was married before to a British man called Cove, so she sometimes goes by the names Hope Asiimwe Cove. As one would expect of a person involved in criminal activity, she has several aliases, these are the ones we are aware of at the moment.
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It is true Hope was arrested and her East London (Newham) home at 43 Albatross Close, London, E6 5NX searched for drugs related offences. Her husband Dr Mwine was also caught up in the search. His wife (Hope) is a known drugs dealer within the Ugandan community in London. She is very well known in East-London for operating a powerful illegal drugs ring composed of mainly Nigerians, Jamaicans and Colombians. She and this gang are also believed to have another base in South-East London, which the Metropolitan Police is aware of.
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Several families have been threatened by this gang headed by Mrs Mwine (Hope Cove). These gangs are seen as so dangerous that some families and individuals have decided to move far away from London to other places like Scotland for the safety of their lives and families.
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One of the gang members George Kabyomera - a brother to Hope, is currently serving a 12 year sentence for drug related offences. He has been deported from the UK several times before, but been able to come back shortly thereafter, using Ugandan diplomatic passports issued under new names.
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Gang members seem not to find deportation a problem as they quickly get new Ugandan diplomatic passports issued to them; this shows how high profile Ugandan government officials are involved in this racket.
( NOTE: It goes without saying that criminals who are not so well connected travel on ordinary Ugandan passports which can be obtained for a song. These criminals include both bona fide Ugandans and more worryingly, foreigners)
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The Violent Crime Unit at Plaistow Police has asked any one who has been intimidated by this gang to contact them on +44 (0) 020 8534 1212
or email newham@met.police.uk
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Plaistow Police Station is still investigating Mrs Mwine's drug case and other offences of threatening lives of several families in London. The families have not been named for their safety, but it is believed that they have faced threats after this gang of criminals suspected them of giving information to police about their criminal activities.
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This drugs-trafficking ring is believed to have more high profile names involved, and London Metropolitan police is asking anyone having information about this gang to contact them.
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Mrs Mwine has been involved in various criminal activities in the past both in UK and Uganda. Around 2003, she was abducted by her fellow drug dealers in London after she apparently supplied drugs, received money and then refused to pay them. She managed to survive, fled to Uganda where she stayed for some time, building herself a house in Muyenga.
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Hope is also being investigated on suspicions that she defrauded the Social Security benefits scheme run by the UK government, by claiming to be divorced. This led London Borough of Newham - benefits office to start paying for her house and giving her additional money for up-keep. Yet (besides her lucrative criminal activities), while in Uganda, she lives a posh life with her new husband Dr Mwine at their massive mansion in Munyonyo next to Sudhirs's hotel.
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Hope is believed to among the people holding Ugandan diplomatic Passports, just to enable them beat the immigration when conducting their criminal activities.
Update: 12 June 2008
- Hope once run a brothel in the south London borough of Croydon which was so rowdy that it featured on a programme called "Neighbours from Hell".
- It is believed Hope first met her current husband Dr Mwine at his son's wedding. After their relationship had grown, she told her British husband she had never loved him and they separated. The poor guy sold his house and now lives with his parents.
- Hope's last known legal job was with the Newham Council but she was suspended for engaging in fraudulent activities.
- Hope is Britisch citizen and also believed to be a member of Museveni's foreign intelligence body, External Security Organisation (ESO)
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