Security to crack down on Illegal guns, minister Karooro
Security minister Mary Karooro Okurut (R) consoles one of Joan Kagezi’s daughters, only identified as Carol (L), at the deceased’s home in Kiwatule, Kampala, yesterday. PHOTO BY ABUBAKER LUBOWA.
KAMPALA. Security agencies will conduct operations to rid the country of illegal and unregistered firearms being used to commit crimes, the Minister of Security, Ms Mary Karooro Okurut, has said
Speaking yesterday at the home of slain senior state prosecutor Joan Kagezi in Kiwatule, Kampala, where she had gone to commiserate with Kagezi’s family, Ms Okurut said the Inspector General of Police, Gen Kale Kayihura, had already sounded a warning to all those in possession of illegal arms to declare them. She also appealed to the public to be vigilant and report such people to police.
“A toll-free line is going to be provided where citizens can call and report cases of illegal and unregistered firearms. All security agencies are involved and working hand-in-hand but it is important that everyone is alert. If your neighbour is hiding a gun in a banana plantation, please report them to the police as it will be used to commit a crime against you at one time,” the minister said.
Ms Okurut added that the shooting of Ms Kagezi was a tragedy to her family and the country at large. She urged all Ugandans to support the bereaved family.
“It is a cowardly and horrendous act that we condemn in the strongest terms possible as government. It was meant to scare judicial officers and derail them from their work. Police has always provided security to these officers and we know that there will be no more lapses. We shall coordinate with other security agencies to ensure that the security of judicial officers is increased,” Ms Okurut said.
She pledged government support to the family of the late prosecutor and said government was working hand-in-hand with them and would communicate burial arrangements soon.
By press time, hundreds of mourners, including high profile government officials, were thronging the home of the late Kagezi to offer their condolences and attend the vigil.
Kagezi, the lead prosecutor in the July 2010 terror suspects’ case, was shot dead in Kiwatule, a Kampala suburb as she drove to her home on Monday evening.
Burial arrangement
Joan Kagezi.will be laid to rest later today at Bukasa, Buloba on Mityana Road at 4pm. A requiem service will be held today at St Luke Church in Ntinda, Kampala starting at 10am.
