KAMPALA —President Yoweri Museveni has castigated Police chiefs for not fully utilizing security cameras installed in different places.
The President who was delivering his 6th term agenda in the State-of-the-Nation-Address to Parliament on Friday June 4, cited the recent shooting at former Chief of Defence Forces –CDF Gen. Edward Katumba Wamala by individuals he referred to as pigs showed the poor organization of the police.
“The cameras I put in place did their work”. “As you saw the killers were running from one area to another area. Why didn’t the camera center alert all the patrol cars and cause even the unmanned air vehicles to chase and block these killers?” He said.
He noted that the police camera managers instead think that the gadgets are only for storing videos for forensic analysis as part of the postmortem of the operation.
Museveni added that the criminals would be on continuous viewing by all the camera centres if the policemen adopt his directives and rationalities in the use of the cameras. He told MPS that despite the availability of security cameras, they are not fully used.
“But as you saw, I told the police that you show the public what the criminals were doing…now the criminals had covered their faces but we shall sort that out,” he explained.
The President said that Gen. Katumba’s shooting cannot be compared to previous incidents because the country did not have security cameras then.
Katumba’s attack follows several high profile killings by armed gunmen riding on motorcycles. On 17th March 2017, unknown gunmen shot dead the former Police Spokesperson, Andrew Felix Kaweesi, his bodyguard, Kenneth Erau and Driver, Godfrey Mambewa.
The trio was gunned down, a few meters from Kaweesi’s home in Kulambiro in Kisaasi, a Kampala suburb.
Kaweesi’s assassination followed the murder of former State Prosecutor, Joan Kagezi in 2015 and Major Muhammad Kiggundu in 2016 in a similar style. In June 2018, unidentified assailants also gunned down the then Arua Municipality Member of Parliament, Ibrahim Abiriga.
Other people killed in a similar manner include Sheikh Abdul Karim Ssentamu, Hassan Ibrahim Kirya, the former Kibuli Spokesperson, Mustafa Bahiga, the former Kampala District Amir, Dr. Abdulqadir Muwaya, the former top Shia Cleric in Uganda and Sheikh Abdulrashid Wafula, the former Imam Bilal Mosque in Mbale Town.
