IGP warns criminals, rioters as country prepares for Christmas

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Inspector General of Police Martin Okoth Ochola has warned criminals and rioters not to dare attempt to commit their mischief as the country celebrates Christmas on Friday. In his written Christmas message, Ochola says this year’s celebrations come not only at a time when the country is in the middle of a general election but also grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic.

“All Ugandans must know that regardless of who you are, Covid-19 affects us all. We therefore need to be mindful of Covid-19 by celebrating in very safe and socially distanced ways to help protect our families, friends and all those who are dear to us. We also need to remain vigilant about criminals who always take advantage of such festivals to victimize members of the public through acts of thefts, robbery, housebreaking, fraud, cybercrime,” Ochola’s message says in part.

It added that despite their policing efforts, the political campaigns faced some threats and vulnerabilities that included; acts of civil disobedience such as riots and violent protests, defiant campaigns, provocations of security forces into violent confrontations, intimidations, looting, vandalism, and pick-pocketing.

“Despite all these challenges, as the police and sister security agencies, we are grateful to the strategic plans and multi-agency tactical responses which enabled us to deal with those challenges. We deployed visible and non-visible resources that helped crackdown the perpetrators of these violent crimes. We also expanded our crime prevention campaigns and zoned the hotspot areas in 13 zones, mapped out all crimes and efficiently collected data on them, completed the installation of CCTV cameras in the greater KMP area and rolled out the second phase to cover other cities,” Ochola said.

In November, the country witnessed some of the worst riots in years following the arrest of the National Unity Platform-NUP presidential candidate, Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu. At least 54 people were confirmed to have been killed in the two day’s riots that rocked major towns across the country.

Ochola also noted what he saw an increase in acts of provocation and attacks against members of the armed forces. He said this is not acceptable because these officers put their lives in the face of danger to keep Ugandans and visitors to the country safe.

Several perpetrators of violence against security officers have been arrested and charged in court.

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