Protect everyone in Uganda from killers

Mbale District has been hit by a wave of killings with four incidents reported in the past week, though residents put the number of deaths at eight. These incidents have raised fresh concerns about the growing insecurity in the country. Besides a prominent businessman, who is reported to be the latest victim of the killers, a 16-year-old student – John Wamono – was beheaded. The killers took away his head.
Before Wamono’s grisly killing, two other cases were recorded by police on July 13. The bodies of Bashir Wandebe, a guard, and one Tom Mudoma were recovered at separate locations in Mbale. A day earlier, on July 12, an unidentified body was found on Mbale-Tororo Road.
These reports are not isolated. Insecurity has been a major concern in the country. From mid-2016, machete-wielding men started terrorising the districts comprising Greater Masaka, leaving residents in fear and tears. The daring attacks forced authorities to impose a curfew in the affected districts.
According to residents, the Masaka killings were carried out by an organised gang who dress in similar fashion to easily identify each other. There were reported cases of leaflets being dropped in villages to warn people of attacks. Similar reports have come out of Mbale where anonymous letters were reportedly dropped in Bukasakya Sub-county by unknown people, stating that they need 15 human heads.
Another worrying trend is the growing cases of kidnap where many victims end up being killed. In some cases, victims were killed even after ransom was paid. Some kidnappers demanded money before they could release the body of a girl they had killed.
There were other gruesome killings that have for long dominated media space – women who are killed in similar way and their bodies dumped in bushes. These cases were commonly reported in Wakiso District. To date, our security forces have not given the country a conclusive report on this wave of insecurity as the situation continues to worsen, including the killing of prominent Ugandans.
As a solution, the President last week directed the Finance Ministry to buy escort vehicles for all the 456 MPs while the army will provide them with “sharp shooters” to protect them from what he called “terrorists.”
Whereas it important to ensure the country’s lawmakers are safe, this isn’t a sustainable solution. According to a recent investigation by Daily Monitor, government is concentrating on protecting the privileged and rich at the expense of the poor.
If the killings in Mbale, Masaka and other parts of the country are to be contained and kidnaps stopped, comprehensive security measures must be put in place to protect all Ugandans.

The issue: Insecurity
Our view: If the killings in Mbale, Masaka and other parts of the country are to be contained and kidnaps stopped, comprehensive security measures must be put in place to protect all Ugandans.