Security beefed up ahead of NRM Day celebrations
Measures. Police inspect a vehicle at Busitema checkpoint following heightened security at the border last Friday. PHOTO BY DAVID AWORI
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The al-Shabaab jihadist group said Wednesday it carried out the deadly attack on a Nairobi hotel and office complex in retaliation for US President Donald Trump’s declaration of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, the SITE monitoring group said. The group said in a statement picked up by SITE that its fighters stormed the DusitD2 complex on instructions by Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.
Tororo. Security has been beefed up at Busia and Malaba borders ahead of the 33rd Liberation Day celebrations, on Saturday.
The annual event is commemorated in remembrance of the day when the National Resistance Movement (NRM) leadership came into power in 1986.
The Bukedi regional police commander, Mr Cissy Tusingwire, told Daily Monitor that the tightening of security at the border crossings is a preventative measure to avert any likely attack from terrorists during or after the celebrations.
Last week the Somalia – based militant group al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack on DusitD2 offices and hotel complex in Nairobi Kenya, which left more than 20 people dead.
Earlier, two pubs in Busia Town were closed by the security agencies lead by police for operating without enforcing security measures. The closed pubs are Nalongo and Pass word.
Mr Tusingwire confirmed the closure of the bars saying that the guards protecting at the two public places were not armed.
“The aim of checking at the entrance is to ensure that criminals do not sneak in with dangerous weapons and the guards have to be armed because they are supposed to engage the criminals with the direct fire,” he said.
He said as security, they have patrolled along the border line in Busia and Malaba to establish the various porous points, where they have deployed officers at various check points.
When Daily Monitor visited Busia and Malaba custom points, personnel from the counter terrorism police with sniffer dogs, were checking buses and cars entering the country from Kenya.
While at Busitema checkpoint, officers from the bomb squad and the army were checking passenger vehicles and trucks to ensure that criminals who may have entered the country through the various ungazetted routes are arrested.
“The terror attack threat in the region is high and we are to maintain this vigilance until we are sure there are no further threats,” Mr Tusingwire said.
The Tororo Resident District Commissioner, Mr Nixon Owole, said the preparation for the Liberation Day celebrations, which will be graced by President Museveni, are in high gear.
Recognition
According to Mr Owole, a total of 115 Ugandans will receive medals of different categories in recognition of the roles played in the liberation and transformation of the country.
Among them include; former Tororo Municipality Member of Parliament Sanjay Tanna, Ignatius Okiror [former Tororo District LC5 vice chairperson], Paul Sande Emolot [the premier of Iteso Cultural Institution], Josel Obbo Emmanuel the Jago of Padhola, among others.
