Kayihura blames Entebbe, Wakiso killings on police

Entebbe. The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Gen Kale Kayihura, has admitted that there is a lapse in security which has allowed criminals to terrorise people in Entebbe and the environs of Wakiso District.
“You see, this has come up because of a lapse in security and it starts with the citizens. Our system is built on your responsibility and power because most people are law abiding, it is only a few that break the law and you know them,” he said.

The police boss was on Thursday addressing Katabi Town Council residents outside Coinworth Supermarket where armed robbers recently killed a guard, injured an attendant and made off with an unspecified amount of money.
He said police had established that there could be a group of youth who have turned into “contract killers” in the area and are hired by one of the parties in disagreement to harm another.
Gen Kayihura, while referring to the killers as animals, warned that unless they changed their ways, police would shoot at them or send them to Luzira prison once arrested.

The police chief, who was returning to the area for the second time in less than a month, also visited some schools in the area and spoke to students.
Late last month, Gen Kayihura rushed to the area after this newspaper, on Sunday June 25, broke news of the savage killings of two-month pregnant Gorret Nansubuga, 19, and Faith Komugisha, alias Jamilah, 31.

Instead, crime has only increased in the area since his departure. Apart from the brutal rape and killing of three women: Rose Nakimuli, 27, Norah Wanyana, 18, and Aisha Kasowole, 27, the area has continued to be plagued by burglaries among other crimes, including the Coinworth Supermarket armed robbery on July 13 that left John Omara, a Security 2000 Limited security guard, dead.
Flanked by local leaders and area police commanders, Gen Kayihura visited the different crime scenes in Katabi Town Council where the bodies of the women have been recovered and spoke to the residents who are now living in fear.

Self defence lessons
He said police would introduce self defence lessons mainly for women and girls in the area to protect themselves.
“Seriously OC [officer-in-charge] look for a place, we start teaching the children Taekwondo. We shall send an instructor. We shall ‘show’ these people who spend the entire day in the gym… I have no bulging muscle but I can beat …”

Gen Kayihura’s tour of the crime-ridden area also came at the time when police is enforcing a 10pm curfew in the area. By 10pm, residents are expected to be at home and business owners and boda boda motorists are expected to have ceased operation.
Defending the curfew, the Katabi Town Council mayor, Mr Ronald Kalema Basamula, said it would last for only two weeks.

“Because of the condition we are in, all our people working at night, we agreed that you stop working at 10pm. I want you to contend with this for two weeks but I also request you not to move alone at night.”
Some residents appealed to the IGP to change the leadership of Entebbe Division police which they said had become reluctant and complacent.

Measures
Curfew: Police is enforcing a 10pm curfew in the area. By 10pm, residents are expected to be at home and business owners and boda boda motorists are expected to have ceased operation.
Mayumba Kumi: Katabi Town Council mayor Ronald Kalema Basamula explained that they had instituted the Mayumba Kumi (10 houses) concept, a system of administration in which 10 houses are clustered to ensure people know who is who in a locality. For every house, four crime preventers recruited from those 10 households will work with police and other security agencies to ensure security in the area.

School children: Parents have also been barred from allowing children to leave for schools before 7am and pick them or give prior authority to another person to pick them on their behalf. Schools have also been instructed to comply with the regulation.

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