Crime preventers good for government, says Rugunda

Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda (L), hands a certificate to a crime preventer as Finance state minister David Bahati (C) and Inspector General of Police Kale Kayihura look on at Kabale Stadium at the weekend. PHOTO BY ROBERT MUHEREZA

What you need to know:

Reinforcement. The prime minister says crime preventers are a legal entity and not militia.

Kabale. Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda has applauded the recent recruitment of crime preventers, saying it is a good initiative.
Dr Rugunda emphasised that crime preventers are a legal entity and those criticising their establishment equating it to militia groups are out of order.
Opposition politicians and civil society organisations have often criticised crime preventers as a political move to ensure President Museveni secures victory in next year’s election.
Presiding over the pass out of 40,000 crime preventers at Kabale Main Stadium at the weekend, Dr Rugunda pledged Shs10 million towards the initiative.
“Crime preventers have to be strengthened because they help in implementation of government programmes. They don’t belong to any particular political party. These are Ugandans who are patriotic and pan-Africanists yearning to transform the country into a middle income country through preventing crime and ensuring peace in communities where they live,” Dr Rugunda said. He added: “These crime preventers should not be equated to any militia group as some critics say because they are part of the tools that shall be used to transform our country.”
The premier hailed the Inspector General of Police, Gen Kale Kayihura, for the initiative, arguing that the trainees will supplement the work of police.
Gen Kayihura said his target is to train at least 11 million Ugandans as crime preventers.
“This is a security system based on community members relied upon in preventing and detecting crime. That is how we built the UPDF. The NRA/NRM liberation struggle was successful because it was the people’s war. People involved in this struggle were exactly using the ideology of community policing,” Gen Kayihura said.

The training
Crime preventers are given elementary military skills and taught NRM ideology which Opposition politicians say is indoctrination to serve partisan interests, and that their capability to deal with crime in rural communities remains wanting.