Foiled robbery exposes gaps in national security

Kampala. The suspected foiled robbery of more than Shs2.4b in which two men, including a Special Forces Command (SFC) soldier deserter, were shot dead on Wednesday has exposed lapses in the security circles.
One of the killed suspected robber was Pte Bright Turyatunga, a soldier, whom his employers, SFC, said deserted seven years ago.
The SFC spokesperson, Capt Jimmy Omara, said Turyatunga had been arrested in a robbery and sentenced to four years in prison, which poses a question why prisons did not alert his employers, the army, before he was released. Prisons is supposed to provide a list of prisoners who are to be released to the police and army. Pte Turyatunga is said to have remained with his army identity card, which was recovered at the scene of crime.
According to the UPDF Act, deserting is an offence punishable by five years to life imprisonment on conviction. It is not clear how Pte Turyatunga was released to society without checking his previous employment record.
Police spokesperson Fred Enanga said Pte Turyatunga was later employed by the Internal Security Organisation (ISO) as an informer.
According to Ugandan laws, security agencies cannot hire any person who is convicted of a criminal case. One of ISO’s main tasks is to vet the background of the people to be recruited in public service.
The ISO Director General, Col Kaka Bagyenda, did not comment on the matter during the press conference. Col Bagyenda said his officers trailed the suspects from Kayunga and Mukono districts where the bullion van picked the money.
However, they did not coordinate with the police, which is the lead agency in dealing with violent crime. The police only responded to the incident after hearing a shoot-out. It is alleged that the guards made several stopovers along the way to eat, raising a question whether G4S private security company did not have GPS tracking system installed in the van to monitor its movement.
Mr Yasiin Ssekamatte, a security expert, said bullion vans carrying money of such magnitude must have a GPS tracking system that is monitored at the headquarters to ensure that it is on the right route.
“The route for cash-in-transit is often drawn earlier. The vans also have trackers and communication gadgets that are monitored when there is a problem and the response is instant. We must ask ourselves whether any of those precautions were taken,” Mr Ssekamatte said.
G4S officials have not responded to our request for an interview.