Drones, gun fingerprints and tighter social media regulation: Museveni's security plan

Uganda

Uganda’s president Yoweri Museveni announced on Wednesday up to 10 measures his government will take to secure the population.

The president was addressing a special sitting of parliament that was called after the brutal murder of one of the country’s prominent legislators, Ibrahim Abiriga two weeks ago.

Uganda’s security agencies have been struggling to contain a wave of crime that has included kidnappings, political assasinations, murder and rape of women and terrorising of residents in towns and villages by machete wielding criminals.

CCTV, DNA and gun fingerprints

While the president has in the past shared several ways in which the government can combat crime including installation of CCTV cameras, capturing of DNA prints of all Ugandans and automobile tracking, he shared a few more new and ambitious projects to eliminate crime with parliament.

‘‘All legally held guns will be ‘finger-printed’ so that if any legally-held gun is used in crime, we shall trace it. This includes guns in private hands but licensed by the police,’‘ the president said, after revealing that he recently found out that every manufactured gun has a unique ‘fingerprint’ and can be traced using the cartridge fired to tell which gun discharged the bullet.

Automobile tracking and new helmets for ‘boda bodas’

The president further explained the interventions he had earlier proposed, saying the tracking of automobiles in the country through new electronic plates to be issued will be done without violating privacy of the owners.

‘Down with the pigs’: Museveni vows to eliminate assassins of Ugandan MP

Museveni also further emphasised the ban on hooded motorcycle riders, and the implementation of an order to have these riders acquire new helmets which have illuminated numbers at the back that can even be seen in the night.

‘You will be exposed’

Security measures will also include tighter regulation of social media, enforcement of truck scanning at border points to detect weapons and other illegal items sneaked into the country, in addition to having a strong, lean army.

“Those criminals will pay for their sins; whatever is done in hiding shall be proclaimed on the mountain. Whatever they say in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what they whisper in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs,” concluded the 73 year old president.

In another ambitious plan, the president told parliament that the police flying squad that responds to crime scenes, will be equipped with drones, light helicopters and motorbikes to improve their effectiveness.

Museveni prides himself on his government’s ability to restore security of person and property in the country, and often lists among the achievements of his 32 year reign, the defeat of armed rebellions like the Joseph Kony led war in Northern Uganda and the Allied Democratic Forces in Western Uganda.