Envoy tasks police to restore sense of security in Uganda

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The German envoy to Uganda Dr Albrecht Conze, has tasked Uganda Police Force (UPF) to give Ugandans a sense of security by apprehending criminals that have put the country on tenterhooks. Dr Conze said that the recent spate of crimes has driven Ugandans into losing their sense of security and confidence in the security forces.

The statement comes on the backdrop of an increase in attacks on unsuspecting members of the public. At least 10 people have been strangled or shot dead by thugs in Kampala,Wakiso and Mukono districts over the last one month. These included mobile money operators, hardware shop workers, Boda-boda riders and supermarket attendants.

Rebecca Namugenyi is the latest victim of thugs targeting mobile money operators. She was killed on Monday by unknown thugs that cut her throat and dumped her body near her home at Kapeke, Nama Sub-county, Mukono District.

A week earlier, another mobile money dealer Juliet Nabasa was shot in Lubaga Division, On the same night, a motorcyclist Derrick Mulindwa was strangled by thugs captured by a private Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) camera. Similar attacks have been witnessed in the areas of Kasangati, Nansana, and Zzana.

Conze said CID and Counter-Terrorism Police need to work together to ensure such crimes are eliminated. He was speaking at the handover of equipment to the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) and Counterterrorism (CT) at the Police headquarters in Naguru on Wednesday. The equipment included two Pickups, 10 motorcycles and four video cameras.

The envoy said German will continue supporting Uganda Police in terms of training and equipment. German signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Uganda Police in 2008 to train crime officers and forensic experts.

The Deputy Inspector General of Police, Maj Gen Muzeeyi Sabiiti said the German government support has enabled more than 700 police officers to benefit from courses in areas of crime scene management, forensic photography, fingerprints, bomb scene management, homicide investigations, narcotic drug investigations and training of trainers.

Sabiiti applauded German for previous items given to police among others 138 pieces of cameras, 10 computers, three camp tents, four binoculars, five postmortem kits, 1000 chairs donated to Police Training School (PTS), Kabalye in Masindi district and an assortment of narcotics testing drug testing kits.

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