Prime
Museveni unveils new 7-point security plan
President Museveni. PHOTO/ABUBAKER LUBOWA
What you need to know:
- Mr Odwee supported the President’s idea of all police stations and posts having Radio Call systems for efficient communication within the Force.
- President Museveni told the Saturday press conference that police officers were using unprofessional mobile phones instead of Radio Call systems which would enable each officer to monitor countrywide communication in real time.
Kampala. President Museveni on the weekend rolled out a 7-point security plan to end the menace of assassination and rising gun violence, particularly in urban areas.
The President blue-print, with emphasis on integrating human vigilance and intelligence as well technical capabilities, was announced during a press conference at State House Entebbe on Saturday evening.
They include citizens’ vigilance, rapid coordination with the police, the law enforcement reverting to radio call communication to keep officers abreast of countrywide situation, and the deployment of the UPDF or reserve forces.
Other aspects are ending neglect of public-provided information, continued purging of criminal and corrupt elements in police and an encouragement to citizens who can afford to in install surveillance cameras at their homes or business premises.
“We were in the bush for five years and patience is part of our doctrine. We shall remove the jiggers in the toe and those around and also spray [to disinfect]. They (outlaws) think we are going to panic. But these are nothing,” he said.
They will not work
In a rejoinder yesterday at the prodding of this newspaper, the former Deputy Inspector General of Police, Mr Julius Odwee, said the new measures will not work unless the national security structure remains “defective” at the sub-county level.
“If you look at the current security structure, it’s only the district level and the National Security Committee that are working. The rest are dead. Even the National Security Council, which is supposed to be chaired by the President, is inactive. He should stop blaming those below him. He should blame himself first,” he said.
The President had previously outlined a 10-point security arrangement. However, the September 8 shooting dead of former Buyende District Police Commander Mohammad Kirumira in Bulenga, Wakiso District, exactly three months after the assassination of Arua Municipality MP Ibrahim Abiriga, forced the President to tackle the issue of deteriorating security afresh.
He called the killers derisively as pigs and jiggers, vowing to eliminate them.
“The pigs that have doomed their future by shedding the blood of innocent Ugandans, have only themselves to blame for their eternal damnation,” Mr Museveni said.
Police are yet to register any significant progress in their investigations into the killing of their officer Kirumira alongside a female companion post-humously named as Resty Nalinya.
In yesterday’s interview, Mr Odwee said blamed politics at the sub-county level for failure in intelligence gathering and effective security coordination which is supposed to feed into and inform the security decisions by Resident District Commissioners.
The security system structure envisaged under the National Security Act is a functional one starting from sub-county up to the top most organ; the National Security Council, chaired by the President.
The 2000 National Security Act provides for the National Security Council, followed by the National Security Committee chaired by Internal Affairs Minister and District Security committees chaired by the RDCs. The lowest committee is the Sub-county committee under this security arrangement.
Intelligence-gathering and analysis at the sub-county level, Mr Odwee noted, is “dead”.
The President Museveni expects his new proposals will be a game-changer in fight against criminality, pending the completion of the ongoing installation of Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras in urban areas over the next nine months.
Mr Odwee supported the President’s idea of all police stations and posts having Radio Call systems for efficient communication within the Force.
President Museveni told the Saturday press conference that police officers were using unprofessional mobile phones instead of Radio Call systems which would enable each officer to monitor countrywide communication in real time.
New 7-point plan
1. Citizens vigilance.
2. Quick coordination with police.
3. Police to use radio calls.
4. Deploying UPDF/reserves.
5. Prioritising public intelligence.
6. Purge police of criminals.
7. CCTV cameras at homes, business premises.
