The biggest campaign platform of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) – peace and security has increasingly come under threat with the wave of kidnaps, murders, and shootings that have claimed several lives – most recently one of the party’s most loyal diehard and Arua Municipality Member of Parliament, Ibrahim Abiriga.
However, in his detailed and rather angry statement, President Yoweri Museveni has revealed plans to divert billions to the security sector in order to finance his ambitious plans of action that will give the government an upper hand in fighting the “pigs” that “are taking advantage of the development” his regime has brought such as an increased number of cars, boda-bodas, and structures in urban centers to terrorise Ugandans.
Read: Museveni directs deployment of 12 million UPDF reserve force
Besides the redeployment of the reserve force to beef up the security forces to combat crime, the president also outlined an avalanche of “technical solutions” the government intends to use to monitor crime all around the country.
Among these is a mandatory installment of irremovable tracking devices in all cars, other automobiles, and boda-bodas. The devices that will be entirely on an individual’s pocket will help security forces know where a motorist is at all times.
In addition, Museveni noted that CCTV cameras are to be mounted on all major streets in the country. These will be complemented by other private cameras on offices, malls, and homes to give the police a 360-degree view of all the crime hotbeds in the urban areas.
Counting the cost
With Uganda already riddled by a humongous debt, how is the president planning on funding these multi-billion plans?
In his statement, Museveni noted without disclosing any figures that ” reasonable chunks of money” had already been diverted to meet these financially demanding costs. The president also intimated that his government is going to tone down on the infrastructure projects especially in the roads and electricity sector so as divert more funds to upgrade the security apparatus and pay the reserve force.
“The cowardly pigs that shot Abiriga at leisure without any equalizing fire being directed at them, will next time get a more balanced equation,” the president said.