President Museveni has visited scenes of murder in Bukomansimbi district, to reinforce investigations into suspicious killings that have caused public security concern in the greater Masaka sub region.
President Yoweri Museveni on Wednesday visited villages of Kisaaka, Kissojjo, Kyamabaale and Kyabagoma in Lwengo and Bukomansimbi districts to check on families that lost relatives in the attacks by not yet identified gang of criminals.
Five people including a retired police officer were murdered and several others injured by machetes wielding thugs that raided villages on the night to New Year’s Day.
Besides the Ushs10m condolence fees, Museveni pledged continuous support to the families but with much emphasis put on apprehending the criminals, which according to him are rudimentary.
“If we managed those Allied Democratic Force-ADF rebels, Lord Resistance Rebels and other armed groups, we cannot fail to trace and suppress these criminals who are using just simple tools of murder,” he noted.
According to Museveni, Police preliminary investigations has established that the thugs are attacking with machetes, that include among others club sticks, axes, iron bars, some of which are even visible in the CCTV camera footage obtained from one of the target homes.
“We are going to trace these criminals and I can assure you they are already defeated,” he noted.
The president on the other hand observed that at some points the courts of law frustrate their efforts of fighting such crimes by granting bail to culprits, who eventually resume their evil operations upon release. He noted that as a remedy, he is going to talk to the Chief Justice; Bart Katureebe to address the concern.
He urged communities to revitalize their traditional security approaches that begun at individual homesteads onward which he said used to fight such crimes.
“I can’t ask all of you to put burglary proofs in your doors in windows, but you can begin by the having stronger locks that makes it difficult to for thugs to break into your houses, such that they can afford time make calls to your neighbors and probably prepare yourself enough to fight back,” he suggested.
He however took a swipe on the local police authorities for relaxing their earlier interventions that had addressed similar insecurity problem in the area.
The greater Masaka Regional Police Commander noted that they has earlier established a community network that helped them end the murders but also faulted the residents of dismantling the system after normalcy has returned.
