Restore security of person and property

Our cover story yesterday indicated that there have been 24 incidents of kidnap for ransom in the last one year and six of them in just one month – February!

Beyond that, many Ugandans are being robbed in their homes or in the streets, with the city suburbs most hit. In November last year, a survey by research firm Afrobarometer showed that 47 per cent of respondents said they had lost something in their homes to thieves in 2016.

The incidents of insecurity continue to rise in the country. Not only is household property being lost but in some extreme cases lives have been lost too. Yet with no consolidated annual police crime reports for the past four or so years, it is difficult to tell whether the situation is getting worse or remains the same.

What is easy to tell though, is that today many Ugandans feel more insecure than they have felt at any one time during peace time. Only the ‘kondoism’ of the early 1970s perhaps comes close to the situation we are facing today.

This government has built its reputation and legitimacy on account of – among others – having restored security of persons and property. If the security we have come to know for the last many years is slipping away, then many Ugandans will begin to ask whether we are back to square one or not.

It is, therefore, important that the government quickly steps up its efforts to ensure that the lives and property of ordinary Ugandans are not at the mercy of criminals who have become more vicious and sleeker in their bloody missions.

It is not easy in this era where criminals are making use of cheaply available technology to execute their missions or to hide the trail of their criminal acts, but governments are well facilitated to stay ahead of criminals.

Perhaps part of the reason we are at this point is that the security forces are spending more time fighting or undermining each other than running after criminals. The criminal gangs meanwhile have found comfort zones in between, getting protection from one security agency against the other.

This is not acceptable. The security agencies need to quickly put their act together and do what they are mandated to do so that Ugandans can feel safe once again. They have done it before; they can do it again – quickly!

Our commitment to you
We pledge:
• To be accurate and fair in all we do.
• To be respectful to all in our pursuit of the truth.
• To refuse to accept any compensation beyond that provided by Monitor Publications Ltd. for what we do in our news gathering and decision-making.
Further, we ask that we be informed whenever you feel that we have fallen short in our attempt to keep these commitments.
[email protected]