Kyegegwa suspends night gatherings over security threats

The Kyegegwa District security committee has suspended all night gatherings for about one month over security threats.

The suspension was issued by the district head of security who also doubles as Resident District Commissioner, Ms Monica Karungi, after the district held a security committee meeting last Friday.

“Due to the current security situation in Kyegegwa District, the district security committee chaired by the RDC has with immediate effect suspended all night gatherings between 7pm and 6am across the district,” the July 7 letter issued by the RDC reads in part.

On the Friday night of June 16, suspected ADF rebels from DR Congo crossed to Uganda and attacked Mpondwe-Lhubiriha Secondary School in Kasese, leaving 38 students and six other people from the community.

For Kyegegwa, the suspension puts a halt to businesses that operate at night  such as bars, video halls,  church and mosque gatherings, and political and cultural gatherings, among others.

Ms Karungi said they discovered that there are security threats within the community and they decided to suspend all-night gatherings such that they can protect people and their property.

“I don’t work alone, we work as a district security committee, and because of threats and insecurity we are having, we want people to be protected from night gatherings as we monitor the situation for a month,” she said.

However, Ms Karungi declined to mention the source and origin of the threats but indicated that in Kasese District, more than 40 people were recently killed by suspected ADF rebels when they attacked Mpondwe-Lhubiriha secondary school.  

The suspension of the gatherings has already hit the entertainment industry. 

Mr Kasoro Arinaitwe, the manager of Kash Promotion in Kyegegwa, which promotes local musicians, said in the forthcoming weeks, he was planning to schedule a music concert but because of the directive, he had to cancel the plans.

“Before the directive was issued, I held one music concert on July 4, but I was given enough security because I had applied for it in advance, but other colleagues of mine whose music shows were on subsequent days were canceled,” he said.

Kasese 
In Kasese District, a few days after the attack by suspected Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels, local leaders asked the district security committee to reinstate curfew from 10pm to 6am to stop the movement of people, but the request was not honored by the RDC, Lt Joe Walusimbi.

“Dear RDC, we propose that a curfew to restrict night movements of people should be imposed so that the whole night should be left for security people,” Mr Peter Sunday Kakule, the chairperson of Nyakiyumbu Sub-county, said.

Instead, the Kasese District security committee issued measures that included having all public places including schools, churches, and entertainment places immediately deploying more than one security guard and removing burglar-proof doors and windows in institutions of learning.

“This time, we don’t want a single deployment of security guards in public places, we need deployment of two guards because if the school had more than one security guard, the incident [rebel attack] would have been avoided, a single security guard cannot guard the school 24 hours,” Lt Walusimbi said.

Another security threat was reported in Kabarole District on July 3 after unknown people claiming to be ADF rebels dropped leaflets warning of an imminent attack on schools and tea farms.

In 1998, the same rebel group attacked Kabarole District and burnt 80 students to death at Kichwamba Technical College, before abducting more than 100 others.

The suspected rebels in their leaflets claim responsibility for the previous attack on Mpondwe-Lhubiriha Secondary School in Kasese.  But for an imminent attack in Kabarole District, they did not disclose the date but emphasised that it would occur at 3am.

The targeted institutions and places mentioned in the leaflets include Kiamara Primary School, Kaswa Trading Centre, Mpanga Tea Estate Company, and Tamiteco Tea Company.

One of the leaflets stated: “We, the ADF army, wish to inform the general public of Uganda that we are back in your country. We, therefore, wish to inform you and President Museveni that we have come back in full to clear everything without fear or favour, and we are not joking with any of our letters to Uganda’s public.”

“We are done with Mpondwe School in Kasese District, and soon we are ascending to Kabarole in schools like Kiamana, Busolo, Tamiteco Company, Kaswa Centre, and Mpanga Company. We will come at exactly 3am to sweep every corner with no mercy, jokes, fear, or favour.’’

To avert the imminent attack, the district security committee resolved some measures including regulating the movement of people at night, preventing bars from operating beyond 10pm, ensuring village chairpersons register all locals and visitors, and tea estate companies hiring only those individuals possessing national identity cards and recommendation letters from village chairpersons. Schools and other public places were also advised to employ armed personnel.

The school head teacher, Ms Edith Kihude, has expressed concern about the safety of the pupils and teachers because the school is located between tea estates and Kibale National Park.

With a total of 560 learners, the school’s attendance took a sharp decline on Friday last week when 180 pupils opted to stay away from class. 

“Moving forward, all pupils are expected to arrive at the school after 7:30 am and classes will commence at 8am. Furthermore, the school will close its doors at 4pm each day. For learners who pass through the neighbouring tea estate, teachers will now accompany them during their journeys,” she said.

Locals speak out
Ms Sarah Komuhendo, a resident of Kyegegwa Town, commended the security team for coming up with the directive saying for the past few weeks, there were unconfirmed reports that unknown people were planning to attack residents.

“We are happy with these directives that require people to stay at home during the night. It is safer to be at home than in a bar. However, we are facing a challenge as some people are not complying. On Saturday, one of my neighbours hosted a party with people gathering around 10pm. We urge the security authorities to come out and enforce the directive,’’ she said.

Mr James Atwiine, who operates a bar around the town centre, said: “The directive to stop bars from operating at night is not good at all because that is the time we get customers. During day time, people are busy with other activities, let security allow us to operate up to midnight.”