Late Col Charles Engola died a few days ago. Whereas death is a given and at one time all of us will die, the difference lies on how one dies. Is it by accident, illness, old age, poison or witchcraft? Yes, all is death but old age illness is not as blunt as being killed by your bodyguard. Such deaths, prompt us to review how one could have avoided or prolonged such death. Death of a senior army officer and a state minister in such way is not only painful but requires us to interrogate the safety and security apparatus at hand to protect senior army & government officers.
When one assumes a senior political office/assignment, he/she ceases to be a private individual but a government property. That is the reason, these Honorable members as they are called, receive 4wheel drive vehicles, security escorts, drivers, office space, secretaries or personal assistants among other benefits. The reasons why ministers get these privileges is to facilitate their day to day activities since their decisions determine the direction to which the country is taking. Cabinet and state ministers are the board of Uganda. They are the management team that decide for the 48m Ugandans. Whereas parliament and judiciary check their decisions, largely, their wishes and resolutions form the agenda to which Uganda is ruled. His Excellency President Museveni is known for being consistent with continuous consultations and discussions. Therefore, these ministers hold Uganda on their shoulders hence their safety and security becomes very important and must be guaranteed. Then, why no CCTV system at late Engolas home?
In physical security management and practition, there are important processes/procedures that must be carried out before a house, an infrastructure is okayed to host an important person like a cabinet minister.
Security survey;
When a facility is identified to host a dignitary or a very important person, the secuirty team whether government or private that is mandated to secure the principal, must be surveyed first to ensure that the premises are safe and secure from threats and risks. The survey identifies the existing safety and secure apparatus, the gaps, and a report is generated with findings and recommendations.
Threat and risk assessments.
Threats and risk assessments are bigger in scope than the security & safety survey. Threat and risk assessment looks at the facility end to end and deeply to identify the would be threats and risks to the person, business or any other project that one ought to carryout. Businesses like banks, insurance companies, big farms, malls, industries etc, and carryout periodic and continuous threat and risk assessments. These assessments details the underlying threats, risks and how they can be minimized or completely get away with though the latter is always difficult. The findings may be categorized or ragged in three ways, issues that may need to be handled immediately, midterm or long term. Secondly, the report may point to serious risks and threats, which we always rag-Red, then not very serious threats and risks that we rag-Umber/yellow and then all is good which ragged green is. Assessments are documented and filed for record purposes. These assessments help the team doing secuirty audit to confirm if the recommendations of the previous assessments or surveys were put in place or not. Through risk and threat assessments, we identify other valuable ways of securing a facility like, the nearest police station, the nearest local leaders address, the neighboring threats, the nearest hospital, supermarket, ambulance services etc,
Security& safety Audits.
The above is carried out to see if the required safety & security processes, procedures, policies and best practices are in place. In most cases, institutions have well laid down safety and security processes and procedures but not implemented on ground. Therefore, safety and security audits aid to monitor and evaluate how these required safety and security processes, procedures and best practices have been implemented. Findings are documented, filed and reviewed with recommendations.
Physical escorts vs electronic, mechanical & digital security.
In Uganda, most of the people especially the security teams from government national forces, they believe in physical secuirty. It’s common to see two police cars leading and following a principal be it a minister, A UPDF general, senior police officer etc. This is very ok but no longer sufficient. Those that are kin on presidential convey, you will see a car mounted with CCTV camera-PTZ. Mzee security handlers have appreciated that security personnel on army jeeps and pickups armed to the tooth are not good enough. There must be a match and mix of sorts. There should be both physical security officers twinned with electronic and digital security. Whereas bullion vans-CIT cars/vans that carry money have escorts, all vehicles are mounted with CCCTV live recording and transmitting to control room, intruder alarms, panic buttons with digital coded padlocks. All these safety measures complement each other and the failure of one is shock absorbed by the other. For example should the escorts’ connive to steal money, the onetime password locks will not allow them access the vault of the bullion van because this password is issue by control room when it has confirmed that the team has reached at the right location. Furthermore, if the CIT van leaves Kiboga to Mubende, the person in control room monitors the van movement on both CCTV, GPS trucking system. The controller will issue another one time password when the team arrives on the expected location. Therefore, conniving will not assist the escorts to access money. They need to corrupt CCTV, GPS system and one time password code. In most cases this is not possible. Should there be maneuver, the CCTV will at least record and store all the events that led to accessing the vault.
Why do we need CCTV and other security systems within our personal houses and in senior government officer’s residents and offices?
Safety and security systems are so critical in deterring, preventing, fighting, and defeating crime.
CCTV.
Closed circuit television is very important system in enhancing personal or organizational security. CCTV serves largely two roles,- on-time monitoring of the premises events end to end. Secondly it aids in investigations by relaying of events. CCTV when well configured, will details how events happened by minute, hour, day, and step by step. In fact CCTV evidence is the most respected evidence in court only when its (footage extraction) is done by qualified person, stored, transported, kept and produced in court in the right way. CCTV footage is punitive. It will show the suspects movement, dress code, activities, and exit. It will show movements, items stolen, methods and equipment’s used etc. CCTV evidence is always solid that cannot be out reasoned by any advocate as long as it’s not tampered with. In this case if there was CCTV installed at Lt Col Engolas home, most of the current questions would have been answered by only viewing CCTV.
Intruder alarms-
This system is installed on windows, doors, and any other place you wish to safe guard. This system has a key pad for arming the premises, the magnetic contacts, and the siren to give alarm and motion or vibration sensors. This system is commonly used in banks, cash offices, high secure facilities like stores, vaults etc. The alarm will go off should there be any form of intrusion and it will send alerts to any number registered on it. Multiple numbers can be registered on it. Security teams will receive intrusion messages and respond immediately,. The best-recommended time is between 5-10 minutes. Response helps to limit the damage, save life , property etc.
Access control protocols.
Swipe cards, biometric finger coded machines, key and lock, mantrap doors, walk through scanners, barriers, tyre cutters, gates both manual and electronic., man guarding etc are all means and ways of controlling access control. When you go to airport, you go through a number of checkpoints that includes physical police check of both persons and vehicles, x-ray scanners for bags, walk through scanners for individuals, coded passwords for accessing some highly restricted areas. Access control helps in identifying, assessing, profiling, and either allowing or denying access. Access control acts as deterent to would be criminals. Criminals before attacking, they carryout reconnaissance and SWOT analysis. When they find that the targets are hard to beat, they abort the mission.
Safety & security awareness.
This is the best safety and security principle that everyone ought to know and practice. Awareness allows us to decide what to do in a compromised safety and security situation. At least I have not heard of any person from Late Engolas home who called police, army, or medical ambulance when that incident happened. We always assume that the only way to save a life is by retaliating or attacking the enemy. No, we can save life by reaching out to hospital or emergency response teams. A number of people had phones within their palms but certainly none called a police station or post or ambulances services. Awareness helps us to appreciate the risks we live with and how bet we can mitigate them.
Lessons learnt and way forward
Army and police officers should carry out security surveys, risk and threat assessment together with routine and scheduled secuirty and safety audits of government senior officers especially cabinet and permanent secretaries residents, offices and other facilities. These audits, surveys and assessments will not only reduce on crimes but also on the reckless loss of lives.
The old fashioned of loading numbers on pickup follow cars as means of securing principals should be integrated with other safety and secure means. Physical bodies with guns and bullets are no longer good enough to guarantee total safety amd security.
Cabinet minister’s residencies, offices and official cars should be fitted with electronic, digital and other related safety and security apparatus to support the physical soldiers and policemen on guard. Official cars should be tracked and geo-fenced, monitored from a central place to ensure accountability of occupants but also emergency response in case of SOS.
Should the lead car or follow car of the principal get a problem, a standby one should be called into immediate action. Certainly if the follow car was available with its men, this death would have been averted. Deployment of soldiers in farms, second wife homes, mistress home, and campus girlfriend should cease and stop. Soldiers are for protecting the principal not family and friends. If you need more secuirty for businesses and farms, outsource from private security companies.
Security awareness and training to civilian ministers and other important dignitaries’ should be mandatory and periodic at least twice a year. This exercise should form part of KPIs of the VVIP commanders and must ensure it takes place. If a commissioned senior UPDF officer can die like that, what about the civilian ministers who cannot even shoot a bow and arrow? Such incidents should be reviewed, documented especially the lessons learnt and remedial action.
Dear Col. Engola, rest in peace, no person whether civilian or force officer deserves such a death. Your children and dear wife will never heal from this trauma. If another person dies same way, it will be no lessons learnt.
May your soul rest in peace Afande Charles.
Samson Tinka
Safety and security consultant.
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