By Mourice Muhoozi
Women lives, most especially in areas of nansana, and Entebbe are in great jeorpady. Females are continuously fearing to live in these areas pointing an accusing finger to the Ugandan security agencies and institutions, claiming that they have done little to put an end to these deaths.
Since June 2016, there has been growing insecurity in Uganda, masterminded by many organised criminal gangs. These have branded themselves names like “Kifeesi” in Kampala city.
These have infiltrated various acts of vandalism, deaths and inflicted heavy suffering on the Ugandan lives. For example according to 2016 crime and safety report in Uganda, there has been a continuous trend of crimes in urban areas, inaccurately, or unreported.
It all started in areas of Masaka, Lwengo, Bukomansimbi and Sembabule districts where criminal gangs hacked to death several Ugandans.
In a nutshell, the great question of the day remains; why have these murders persisted, despite police reinforcements and massive deployment?
With the partnership of the Uganda police and the UPDF, gang attacks against civilians were reduced in the greater masaka region but to a smaller extent. This led to the birth of a similar phenomenon in nansana and entebbe, only limited to the female gender where many ladies were murdered gluesomely.
Many argue that the name that was given to the supreme armed force of the country, that is to say; Uganda People’s Defence Forces indicates that this force is charged with the responsibility of ensuring safety of the lives of the Ugandan people.
According to the ministry of defence, the UPDF is supposed to be accountable to the people, while focusing on protecting them from internal and external attacks
One wonders why there is always a quick response in deploying this force to foreign countries yet Ugandan inhabitants are dying at a terrific rate, due to security reasons.
Adding weight to the issue, while talking to the press on 30th August 2017, the Kampala Metropolitan police spokesperson Emilian Kayima said that the constitution gives a window to the UPDF to intervene in the current security question in Entebbe.
Though it is indispensable necessary to attend to the security of Uganda’s neighbours, the state inhabitants should be given a first priority. The reputation of the regime was soiled in political mud on 5th september 2017, when mp’s faulted general Jeje Odong for acting as a passive witness in the awake of these murders.
Arrests and investigations into these murders in Entebbe and Nansana have been left to the police alone. The national army has abstained from this, raising a lot of questions and concerns.
The police are sometimes inefficient, ineffective and ill equipped. This explains why these gruesome killings of women have persisted in Entebbe, despite some apprehensions.
Though the full intervention of the UPDF militarizes the state, they should at least help the police in tracking down criminals because they are highly skilled, equipped and possess better intelligence networks.
This can help to restore citzens’ confidence in the government towards ensuring their security and put to an end, if not help to curb these rampant murders in the country.
The writer is a second year student of journalism and communication at Makerere university.
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