Police raids bar in Kibuli where Indians and Nepalese were dancing “kimansulo”

Police with its sister security agencies along with the Department of Immigration last week rescued about eight women of Indian and Nepalese origin who were suspected to have been trafficked into Uganda to carry out prostitution.

After invading a bar in Kibuli, a Kampala suburb, Simon Peter Mundeyi, the Spokesperson of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, said that it was discovered that the eight were strip dancing, locally known as kimansulo.

According to Mundeyi, on sight, some members of the public who had gathered to consume strip dancing services wanted to cause harm to the officers who had gone to arrest the stripers.

“Upon interrogation, we found out that these girls especially the Nepalese came here as tourists and were given a one-month visitors pass on entry at the airport. On further interrogation, we did find that they were promised by one Indian gentleman that they were coming to do work here which would enable them to earn $10,000 per month,” he said.

Upon reaching Uganda, reliable information gathered by authorities indicates that these girls were put in a house in Namuwongo and were always given all the necessities of life.

However, every evening on particular days, Mundeyi said, they would be transported to Bollywood Masala Bar in Kibuli for them to carry out strip dancing.

“We noted that on days where these girls would be performing that whole bar would be fully packed. The entry fee would be hiked to almost Shs300, 000 and the cost of beers would almost triple to about Shs15,000 per bottle.

“We also realized that the demand for these girls was overwhelming given the fact that by the time we entered that place, we found that it was full,” he added.

Despite the congestion inside Bollywood Masala Bar, Mundeyi stated that many other individuals were still struggling to enter and view the strip dancers.

Their aim as Immigration, being accompanied by police, was to ascertain whether the eight Indians and Nepalese had the required documents to work in Uganda.

Mundeyi further highlighted that Police managed to arrest the 8 along with their broker who was later detained at CPS and confessed to having been doing this business and that it earns him good money.

“We are of course still investigating the matter. The gentleman is in our custody and we do hope to deport him just like we did with the girls,”

On the D-Day of strip dancing, Mundeyi said customers who would want to consume the services of these ladies were always asked to pay between Shs1 million and Shs1.5 million; the girls were always paid $50.

The raid and arrest of these alleged sex traffickers came just a year when police had also arrested Nepalese girls aged between 19 – 34 who always came to Uganda to engage in prostitution.