In the wake of the five rape and murder incidents in Katabi Town Council in two months, Police has issued tough guidelines for Bars and Churches in a bid to stamp out the increasing crime rate in the Town Council. Speaking during a community meeting in Kitala Zone on Monday, RPC KMP South Siraj Bakaleke directed all bar operators to starting close at 10pm stressing that any bar that will be found operating beyond 10pm will be closed indefinitely and the owners arrested.
RDC Rose Kirabira who also addressed the community meeting in Kitala Zone stated that Bars have turned out to be safe havens and hideouts for criminals and wrong elements where they spend most of their time hatching their evil and dirty deals.
“We have intelligence reports that criminal gangs hang around in bars where they hatch their dirty evil deals. We have therefore directed all the bars to start closing at 10pm and any bar that will be found operating beyond 10pm will be shut down indefinitely and the owners arrested. We believe we shall curb down on the crime rate in the area because some of the victims who have been killed go to bars where they become so susceptible to be trailed and attacked”, RDC Kirabira stated.
RDC Kirabira also directed all churches to immediately stop holding overnight prayers stressing that churches without operating licenses have been directed to shut down.
“We have been able to identify the racket behind the murders of women and majority of them are between 16 to 20 years. It’s high time women; girls and sex workers started involving themselves in their personal security because the killing pattern clearly shows that the criminal gang targets women”, RDC Kirabira added.
She however castigated the locals for adamantly refusing to attend village security meetings and directed all the respective local council (LC1) leaders to work with committee members that have been thoroughly screened by the residents. She called on the residents to utilize the respective security organs to avail vital information regarding suspected criminals in their areas.
Meanwhile RPC Siraj Bakaleke disclosed that the army has been called upon to work with the Police force to ensure that the security guidelines are implemented.
“We have called upon the Special Forces Command (SFC) and other security agencies to work with us to ensure that we put an end to the rape and murders of women. The security guidelines start with immediate effect and we shall be staging roadblocks and anyone who will be found without any document such as National Identity cards will be rounded up and arrested. We shall also start conducting door to door operations and we shall pay keen interest on homes with tall perimeter wall fences because reports indicate that some criminals conduct their dirty deals in the perimeter wall fences”, Bakaleke revealed.
Meanwhile Francis Tumwesigye, the Deputy RPC KMP South directed all the Gombolola Internal Security officers (GISOs) during a community meeting that was held on Sunday in Nkumba Central to register all lodges and sex workers and immediately embark on impromptu checks of the lodges because they have also turned out to be black spots.
Tumwesigye directed the police officers to shut down the lodges that don’t meet the requirements and also called on the land lords to avoid being money minded and always know their tenants.
He banned gambling and slot machines and urged the machine owners to hand them over before Police rounds them up.
The village security committees that Police has rolled out will compromise of a crime preventer, LC1 Chairperson, GISO, NRM Chairperson, representative from the Boda Boda stages, representative from the lodge owners, representative from the sex workers, representative for the women affairs and representatives from the Christian and Muslim religious denominations.
“Thirty people will be identified per village which will be subdivided into three zones and thereafter 10 people will man each zone. We believe this method will be helpful in strengthening the neighbourhood watch program. The village security committees will work with the respective Police officers and will be held to account in case of any crime”, Tumwesigye explained.
