Museveni wants Ugandans' palm prints, DNA details captured 'to eliminate crime'

Uganda’s president Yoweri Museveni has told his countrymen it is time to consider capturing of palm prints and DNA records in order to eliminate crime.

The president also directed that authorities halt the unregulated sale of mobile phone SIM cards and install CCTV cameras in urban areas ‘in the next few months’.

Museveni made the directives following the kidnap and brutal murder of 28 year old Susan Magara whose body was dumped in Kigo, a suburb of the capital, Kampala, that is along the newly constructed Kampala-Entebbe expressway.

Press Release from IGPUGANDA on the kidnap and murder of Ms. Suzan Magara. pic.twitter.com/aJ17Jh3HvF

— Uganda Police Force (PoliceUg) February 27, 2018

The president who has previously called for the installation of cameras in urban areas as a measure to counter crime, believes that is this had been done, whoever dumped Magara’s body could have been identified.

The gaps we have been having in the towns have been lack of cameras and unregulated sale of mobile phone SIM cards to people without electronic identity cards. It is these gaps that we are in the process of closing. In the next few months, the cameras will be up in many areas.

— Yoweri K Museveni (@KagutaMuseveni) February 28, 2018

Police in Uganda have put in place a reward of 100 million Uganda shillings for anyone with clues that might lead to the identification, arrest and conviction of the kidnappers.

The police released an audio clip of the kidnappers demanding ransom from Magara’s family. The family says the kidnappers made several calls using unregistered simcards, thus the president’s directives to check unregulated sale of mobile simcards.

Furthermore, no mobile or fixed phone SIM cards should be given to anybody without the electronic identity card. We may require the sellers of mobile phone SIM cards to have electronic identity card readers so that we rule out the photocopying of genuine electronic ID cards.

— Yoweri K Museveni (@KagutaMuseveni) February 28, 2018

Cabinet yesterday directed the regulator to investigate all telecom companies with unregistered simcards and report back in 14 days.

In May last year, Ugandans were ordered to have their sim cards registered using the electronic National identity cards or risk disconnection, following the gruesome murder of the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Andrew Felix Kaweesi.

However, nearly a later later, security agencies are grappling with a new wave of murders, kidnaps and fleecing of money, where criminals use unregistered simcards to coordinate their operations.

The president said while some people argue that such a move would be undemocratic, he would pursue it ‘in order to eliminate these criminals’.

‘‘DNA records of everybody are good to compare with blood samples, sweat, sperm etc found at the scene of crime. Palm-prints are better than thumb prints because the criminal may leave the palm-print and not thumb print,’‘ Museveni said.

In order to eliminate these criminals, we may have to look at two other measures: capturing the palm-print of everybody and the DNA of everybody. Some elements try to argue that capturing the DNA of people is not democratic. I cannot understand why it is not democratic.

— Yoweri K Museveni (@KagutaMuseveni) February 28, 2018

DNA records of everybody are good to compare with blood samples, sweat, sperm etc found at the scene of crime. Palm-prints are better than thumb prints because the criminal may leave the palm-print and not thumb print.

— Yoweri K Museveni (@KagutaMuseveni) February 28, 2018