Locals pin 50 youth over robbery
Southern Region Police commander Maxwell Ogwal addresses residents of Kingo Sub-county at the weekend. Photo by ALI MAMBULE
Lwengo. Fifty youth, including two females, have been named among the suspected thugs terrorising villages in Lwengo District.
The names of the youth came up during a meeting between police and residents in Kitambuza village, Kingo Sub-county at the weekend.
Residents of Ssenya, Wattuba, Kaswa, Kasooka and Settaala villages wrote the names of the suspected thugs on pieces of paper during a meeting of six villages.
The meeting was convened following several robbery and theft cases in the area.
Following the incidents, the residents held a meeting to which they invited the director of police operations, Mr Andrew Felix Kaweesi.
Mr Kawesi did not turn up but he was represented by Southern Region police commander Maxwell Ogwal. The names of the suspected thugs were read out in the meeting and a serious warning issued to them.
However, Mr Ogwal warned the residents against lynching the suspects, saying the law will take its course.
The residents blamed the police for failing to evenly distribute police posts in the six villages, a reason they said has escalated criminal activities.
The residents also said the Catholic Church in the area had donated a piece of land for the construction of a police post in Ssenya village to improve security but the Force were yet to take up the offer.
Mr Ogwal, in his response, said they were going to post more police officers to the area and build a police post on the donated land.
“We shall also put up semi-permanent structures on the land which the church has donated as we wait for headquarters to construct a permanent police post,” Mr Ogwal said.
BACKGROUND
The latest statistics show that crime reported to police has increased from 268,811 cases reported in 2011 to 273,957 cases in 2012. There were 11,006 economic crime cases, 7,340 cases of break-ins, 4,194 robbery cases and 8,076 cases of defilement.
