The cold bloodied murder of Arua Municipality Member of
Parliament, Ibrahim Abiriga, has reignited the debate on security in Uganda.
Throughout last year, it was alleged that the security situation in the country
had deteriorated because then Inspector General of Police, Kale Kayihura, had
privileged clamping down on opposition activism over criminal policing. He was
also accused of working with criminals. His removal, it was argued and later
celebrated, would end kidnappings and murders.
It is three months now since Kayihura left office. However,
the security situation is getting worse. Some may say it is still too early to
judge. However, our politicians, elements in security (who were fighting
Kayihura), journalists, civil society activists, pundits and social media
noisemakers have largely been mute. Of course most of these people do not really
care about security. For many of them these security problems offer an
opportunity to score political point sand thereby win the affection of the
hordes.
Uganda has a problem of crime in large part because the
country is undergoing rapid structural change. Our urban areas, especially
Kampala, are growing rapidly. Many who were born in this city or have migrated
into it are doing well. But when they compare themselves with the affluent,
they feel left behind. This creates social frustration and they turn to crime
to make quick gains. Cities create anonymity, which facilitates crime. However,
urban poverty/crime is a sign’s of a city’s growth and vitality.
The recent outrage at murders and kidnapping is, ironically,
evidence that the state in Uganda has greatly improved citizen security. There
was a time (1971-1986) when crime was orchestrated by state security agencies.
They would kidnap and kill people in broad daylight. Between 1986 and 2005,
insecurity was orchestrated by non-state actors:myriads of our citizens were
being routinely killed by rebels and cattle wrestlers. Millions lived in
internally displaced camps in Northern Uganda, especially Acholi region, and in
Bundibugyo and Kaseese in Western Uganda.
Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army was abducting children
daily. I remember kids in Gulu would, every evening, walk from their homes to
sleep on the streets of that town because the countryside was not safe. I also
remember motor vehicles traveling to Northern Uganda could only do it twice a
week in a heavily defended convoy – in both cases because the state had lost
control of territory.
For many years, cattle wrestling by Karimojong had destroyed
normal life in Teso and parts of Lango. The Allied Democratic Forces would set
bombs in restaurants around Kampala killing tens of people. In Kabarole,
Bundibugyo and Kasese districts, ADF would raid villages and kill tens of
people. In 1998 it burned to death80 students in their dormitories and abducted
100 others at Kichwamba Technical College.
Gone is this kind of highly organised and large scale threat
to national security that characterised Uganda from 1971 to 2005. The recent
insecurity consists of isolated criminal gangs that are killing and kidnapping
people on a very small scale. That Ugandans are outraged at these developments
only shows how far the country has come. Compared to the past, these are mere
pin pricks.
Of course this is not to diminish the pain of those who have
lost loved ones. Rather it is to emphasize the fact that the current outcry is
a sign that the state has achieved effective monopoly on the exercise of
violence. Ugandans have gotten used to a very secure political order. So any
disturbance of their peace is intolerable.The recent outrage shows how far the
goal posts of security have shifted.
However, the situation in Kampala and the surrounding areas
is not as bad as is presented by the high priests of our politics. I walk alone
at night around this city and its always busy with patrons drinking at their
favorite clubs, people in Kikubo doing brisk business, streets filled with
traffic. Criminals are only able to operate in dark and isolated neighborhoods.
Yet our elites want to pontificate as if these recent crimes are a sign of the
end of the world.
The claim that the country’s security has fallen apart, a
claim that President Yoweri Museveni reinforces with his reckless speeches, is
actually a gross exaggeration of the problem. Museveni may have his own reasons
for undermining the credibility of his government with his reckless speeches
that reinforce the opposition message. But his claims are often only a small
part of the truths.
The recent spate of kidnappings and killings shows three
major lapses of the Museveni administration: one is the collapse of the Local
Council (LC) system as a civic institution for ensuring community security; the
other is the increasing erosion of the prestige and authority of the police (I
see Ugandans beating police officers on duty – and recently the new IGP advised
people to do more of this); the third is the erosion of the relationship
between security services and citizens in providing security.
Museveni has talked of the need to equip police with
technical capacity to monitor crime like putting cameras on streets; installing
equipment on all cars to monitor their movements, improving the forensic
capabilities of the police etc. These ideas are good but expensive to implement
and maintain. Besides, the dust in Kampala will most likely block the cameras.
The lack of street lighting means the cameras will not see the killers in the
dark. Also, there is the likely risk that these cameras will be stolen or
vandalized as happens to streetlights. Therefore, the president is suggesting
an investment that is likely to be both expensive and ineffective.
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