Mukono attacks: What State, citizens must do
We sadly today return to write afresh about the deteriorating human security in the country. The purpose is not to lament, but emphasise the urgency for action.
In the latest sordid deed, machete-wielding gang members raided six villages in Mukono District on Sunday night and hacked to death four of eight residents they attacked. Some of the victims were waylaid while returning home. Others were cornered in the safety of their living rooms and chopped.
The attackers, in some instances, gained illegal and secret entry into the houses, hiding up in ceilings and struck on unsuspecting home owners when the latter were evidently vulnerable. They menacingly demanded for cash and dismembered their victims who either had no money or did not give.
The timing, execution and manner of the raids bore hallmarks to the nastiness of a similar gang that terrorised Masaka District residents from last year to this year. Two perpetrators tried and convicted over the Masaka killings were on Monday sentenced to 40 years imprisonment.
The irony is that justice for Masaka victims was delivered just hours after similar gruesome raid in Mukono, roughly 150 kilometres away. We commend the security agencies, working with citizens, for halting the spate of attacks and killings in Masaka. Regrettably, those gains have been discounted by emergence of the raids in Mukono.
We ask: Is it possible that some Masaka gang members remained at large, went into hibernation and have now exported their signature viciousness to Mukono? This is possible and plausible because the thoroughfare enables faster connection, even within hours, between the two places.
It is our position that the impregnable problem of insecurity will require a meeting of minds between citizens and State actors. We offer the following as quick first steps:
• The revived Local Council leaders countrywide to register and keep a record of residents in their villages.
• Obtain mobile telephone contacts of residents and develop a village-wide Short Text Messaging or Whatsapp broadcast system for early warning and incident reporting.
• Police to deploy fully-facilitated and multi-skilled mobile brigade for rapid response in both backwater and urban areas.
• Local Council officials, working with residents, to identify and facilitate good-mannered individuals to conduct night patrols.
• Strengthen the capability of covert State agencies to collect and collate information to aid intelligence-led sting operation to catch outlaws. Restore trust between State and citizens by de-politicising security.
Appraise security operatives and spies for competence and purge the rogues and inept. Security is a common denominator for us all. Citizens can pride in the country and support government if it guarantees their safety.
