Members of the public have been urged to adhere to the health SOPs of facial covering, proper hygiene and social distancing as they enjoy the festivities.
The call has been urged by Inspector General of Police Okoth Martic Ocholla while delivering his Christmas message on Wednesday.
“The situation is even more worrisome now that the vaccine is still months away, and yet many members of the public are complacent and not adhering to the health SOPs. All Ugandans must know that regardless of who you are, crime and Covid-19 affect us all. We therefore, need to be mindful of Covid-19 by celebrating in very safe and socially distanced ways to help protect our families, friends and all those who are dear to us” the IGP noted.
Adding that there is need for everyone to remain vigilant about criminals, who always take advantage of such festivals to victimize members of the public through acts of thefts, robbery, house breaking, fraud, cybercrime.
“As you are aware, this festive season is embedded within an electoral period for Presidential, Parliamentary and Local Government positions. Despite our policing efforts, the political campaigns faced some threats and vulnerabilities that included; acts of civil disobedience such as riots and violent protests, defiant campaigns, provocations of security forces into violent confrontations, intimidations and minor criminal activities, looting, vandalism, and pick pocketing” Ochola warned.
He however noted that despite all these challenges, as the police and sister security agencies, they are grateful to the strategic plans and multi-agency tactical responses which enabled them to deal with those challenges.
The IGP says they deployed visible and non-visible resources that helped crack down the perpetrators of these violent crimes and also expanded the crime prevention campaigns and zoned the hotspots areas in 13 zones, mapped out all crimes and efficiently collected data on them, completed the installation of CCTV cameras in the greater KMP area and rolled out the second phase to cover other cities, municipalities major towns and highways, promoted new technologies like DNA fingerprinting of guns, and the automated fingerprint analysis.
In addition, police has deployed specialist teams at selected locations, to counter all forms criminality and further made improvements in their investigations and intelligence processes.
“As a country, we have celebrated several religious festivals like IDD, Easter, Uganda Martyrs and public events like Independence Day, in very safe and healthy settings. We can still do so during this Christmas season without losing the much appreciation to each other.”
He applauded all members of the Joint Task Force, for their hard work over the year, in keeping Ugandans and visitors safe. Adding that although on many occasions the great work of security personnel goes unnoticed, they are extremely proud of their achievements in reducing crime.
“This year alone, we anticipate a further decrease in crime by 5.4%. There is a substantial reduction in gun crimes due to the DNA fingerprinting of guns, and continuous operations aimed at dismantling criminal gangs actively involved in kidnaps, human trafficking, and robberies of mobile money dealers, boda-bodas riders, business persons, factories and murders. In addition, there were further disruptions of shops and garages dealing in suspected stolen items of mobile phones and electronic gadgets, motor vehicle spares etc” Ochola noted
He however says they witnessed an increase in acts of provocation and attacks against members of armed forces. The IGP says this is not acceptable, because these officers put their lives in the face of danger, to keep Ugandans and visitors to our country safe and that several perpetrators of violence against security officers have been arrested and charged in court respectively.
