Security options for your home

On the night of February 25 at 3:30am as Edward Mugume (not real names) was asleep, he was suddenly awakened by a loud alarm from one of his neighbours who was undergoing a thorough beating.
It wasn’t an action movie but a real event as Mugume’s immediate neighbours were being beaten. Their items such as laptops, phones and money were now in possession of thugs.
When he peeped through his door glass, he saw approximately six thugs, their heads covered with masks, holding the iron bars they used for breaking into the houses. All the three houses that are in the same perimeter fence had been surrounded. Though the entrance to his door was not tempered with, it appeared like it was next in line as it was being manned by one of the thugs.
“I developed cold feet. The police contacts I had could not go through. I was alone in my house and just helpless waiting for my turn. It became worse when one of the thugs torched at me and hit my door with something I did not know,” Mugume recalls.

Blowing whistles
He adds that; “When the thugs had finally finished looting the two houses of valuable items, they ran away because I had switched on the lights. The following day, I bought whistles and kept them in my house so that if they (thugs) ever come back, I would blow the whistles to alert my neighbours.”
The above scenario is perhaps one of the many tricks that thugs have in the recent past been using to break into people’s homes within and around Kampala and walking away with household items. In some cases, the thugs cause bodily harm to the house occupants.

Knowing your neighbours
Anthony Katabazi, a resident of Kyanja says though living in privacy is important, it is equally important to get over your perimeter fences to know your neighbours and also become friends with them. This, he says is advantageous to your security in a sense that if there is an issue such as a break-in at your home, your neighbours feel compelled to come to your rescue.

Link police to your area
As far as familiarising yourself with police officers at your nearest police station is concerned, Katabazi says is a win-win situation.
“When you have chats with police officers at your station, they get to know you in person and where you stay. When you call them in case of an emergency, they will be quick to respond,” Katabazi advises.

Installing alarms and cameras
Some homes, especially those in upscale suburbs such as Kololo, Muyenga, Buziga, among others, are usually guarded by private guards. Those that cannot afford security guards have dogs, both used in securing the home.
In case you cannot afford any of the two, Katabazi advises that you at least install security alarms or cameras around your home. The alarms, he explains maybe those that are switched on or those that detect unexpected movements within and around your home premises and just go on automatically.

Communal social media groups
These social media groups, Katabazi says can be run on different platforms. It could be Whatsapp, Facebook chat groups, among others. They work in a way that residents in an area know each other’s homes, plot numbers if deemed necessary and mobile contacts.
“If you belong to a certain group and alert your group members that you have been attacked, all your neighbours will get to know of it and act in whichever way they can to come to your rescue. That is the beauty of social media beyond using it for chatting,” he opines.

Double burglar proofing
Among Atuhaire, a builder in Makindye, says though it comes at a cost, installing double burglar proofs on your house doors and windows saves both lives and property. That even though your house is already complete, double burglar proofs can be installed inside and outside your house if you search for a professional welder to fix them for you.
“The burglar proofs could be in form of doors at entrances or they could be those that are permanent at windows. They must be those made out of iron bars because of their strength and they designed according to the house owner’s choice or recommendation by the welder,” Atuhaire advises.
Double burglar proofs, Atuhaire concludes, make it hard for thieves to break into your house because of length of time they require to successfully break or cut them. By the time thugs break those on the outside, you would have enough time to call for help.

Advice
“The burglar proofing could be in form of doors at entrances or they could be those that are permanent at windows. They must be those made out of iron bars because of their strength and they are designed according to the house owner’s choice or recommendation by the welder,”

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