Crime preventers ready to protect President Museveni

KAMPALA- Although President Yoweri Museveni is yet to conclusively pronounce himself on the scheme to scrap Article 102 (b) of the Constitution that would make him eligible to contest for presidency in 2021, a group of Crime Preventers- a pseudo security unit under Uganda Police, have vowed to support the idea because he’s is a visionary leader who still has a lot to do for Uganda.

The Article bars people who are above 75 years of age from contesting for presidency.

Several politicians in the ruling National Resistance Movement have openly supported the scrapping of the age ceiling for presidential candidates. The scheme, however, is being interpreted by some people as a ploy to allow President Museveni, 73, who has been president for 31 years, to contest again for the top job in Uganda in 2021.

Speaking at their third annual conference in Kampala on Saturday, Mr Blaize Kamugisha, the national co-ordinator of Crime Preventers, said the group exists to protect President Museveni and the country.

“You can see we are ready to die for the president. We have two goals. The first goal is to protect the president and the second is to protect the country. Our existence is the extension of the 1986 revolution,” Mr Kamugisha said amidst pro-Museveni chants.

To prove their point, the crime preventers have composed a song in which they prophesise that Article 102 (b) would be scrapped from the Constitution “by hook or crook.”

Mr Kamugisha said they have enough numbers to engage whoever wants to oppose the plan to have President Museveni in State House beyond 2021.

 “This is a movement that is well guided. If we mobilised only 60,000 village crime preventers’ coordinators, we would silence the whole country,” Mr Kamugisha said.

The Saturday conference was attended by about 3,000 coordinators of crime preventers from various sub-counties and municipalities.

Police recruited crime preventers in the run-up to the February 2016 general elections.

Opposition politicians branded “regime militias.”

Although in theory they are said to be impartial and tailored to community policing, most of the crime preventers, who by police accounts number up to 11 million, openly support the ruling NRM.

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Traffic flow on Jinja Road was paralysed on Friday as crime preventers held a procession celebrating the dismissal of former presidential candidate Amama Mbabazi’s election petition

Internal Affairs Minister, Gen Jeje Odongo praised the crime preventers for improving Uganda’s peace and stability.

“I am one of those who are very proud of what you are doping. The 2016 elections were recorded the most peaceful this country has ever had. And that was not by mistake. It was by the virtue of the significant role of you played as crime preventers,” Gen Odongo said.

Gen Odongo challenged crime preventers to embrace poverty eradication programmes like Operation Wealth Creation to reduce poverty and promised to support them whenever they approach him.

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