Tips to keep your home safe during the festive season

The holiday season is here and as is tradition, most urbanites are planning to make their yearly trek back to their villages to spend time with their families and relatives. It is also the season when homes are most likely to be broken into because burglars find it much easier to break into a home that is empty than one that is occupied.
However, you do not have to go through your holidays worried about your home, here are some tips that can go a long way in keeping your home secure while you are away.

Social media
Benon Kabanda, a community security officer for Ntinda Village, notes that one of the causes of the upsurge of break-ins is careless posting of information on social media. “Everyone, including people who want to break into your home has a smart phone and they can access your social media such as Facebook and Snapchat, among others and they will be able to monitor your movements this way. I know social media has become an extension of our young people’s lives but for the sake of their homes, they should refrain from posting that they are away from their homes,” urges Kabanda.

Avoid sharing travel plans
Consequently, avoid sharing your holiday travel plans with strangers. “The truth is we give out a lot of information about ourselves even without knowing it. People do not think twice about making plans loudly on the phone in a taxi full of strangers. So think twice before you excitedly share your itinerary with complete strangers because you never know who is listening,” the security officer notes.

Trash
Did you know that your trash can give a clue to would-be burglars? No self-respecting burglar wants to break into a home so poor that they feel moved to leave some donations behind.
To avoid this, they will monitor the things you buy through the packing boxes and receipts you throw away. If you bought a brand new TV, or purchased an expensive sofa set, Kabanda advises against just dumping the box or receipts in the trash.
He says it is better to cut all boxes of expensive purchases into unrecognisable pieces and keep your receipts away from prying eyes. “If it is possible burn them,” he advises.

Security officers
He urges homeowners to inform the local security officers that they will be away. “If we know that a certain home is empty, we always make arrangements to keep checking on it, that way the burglars know that it is under surveillance and will keep away,” Kabanda notes. Likewise you can ask a neighbour who will be staying around to keep an eye on your home.

Stop suppliers
But if the budget does not allow, Mukiri advises trying to keep things as the same as possible to confuse burglars. “Before you leave make sure you stop all your suppliers, nothing says empty home than ripening bunches of matooke or rotting vegetables.

Clothesline
To complete the disguise, leave some clothes out on the clothesline and some shoes on the doorsteps these might make the burglars think that there are people at home,” Mukiri says.

Keep keys safely
Evelyne Mbera says she learned the hard way when thieves opened their home using keys they used to keep in a flower pot. “We used to keep spare keys just for those moments when something happens and you do not have keys. Of course other people such as our maids, the shamba boy and even all our neighbours knew we kept them there.
“While we were away, last Christmas but one, some smart gentlemen came, greeted our neighbours, picked the keys and entered our home. They took every electronic appliance, the special glasses, dishes and even my shoes. I still cannot get over coming into my bedroom and finding an empty space in the closet where I used to keep my shoes,” Mbera recounts regretfully.

When she asked whether her neighbours had seen the thieves, they said they thought Mbera had sent them since they knew where the keys were. She strongly advises anyone who keeps spare keys around the home to stop, or change the locks frequently.

Double check
And lastly, before you leave home, double check your whole home again including locks to make sure they are really locked.

Solid doors

Andrew Mukiri, from Security Concepts Uganda Ltd recommends installing solid doors and windows and reinforcing them with heavy duty locks.

“Window locks matter for home security. The intruders always look for the easily accessible way to enter the house. The window is the second option after the backdoor the burglars prefer to get into a home,” he notes.
He also recommends installing an alarm system that will go off when there is any attempt at force entry.

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