PUBLIC transport providers in Kampala city have introduced new security checks to ensure safety of travellers after terrorists struck Kampala on Sunday.

Uganda remains on high alert to deter further terrorist attacks. The Somali-based al-Shabaab terror group, which claimed the Sunday attacks, has warned of more bombings on Uganda.
Other safeguards have been instituted by bus companies, churches, commercial premises’ owners and shop-keepers.

They include searching all people entering taxi parks and before they board taxis. “Their luggage will be scanned too,” Ssengooba Seguya, the vice-chairman and the head of operations of UTODA, a taxi association, said yesterday.

The situation is the same at the Qualicell and the new bus terminals. Only UTODA staff, clad in blue-and-white and khaki uniforms, are allowed to check passengers.

Vendors have been banned from the taxi parks. No traders are allowed to do business on stair cases or near electricity poles. They are also required to reduce their merchandise loads and carry it home at the close of business, said Seguya.

He said the organisation had asked everyone in the park to report suspicious items to the Police. He added that UTODA is not an expert in dealing with bombs. “We can only vacate and fence off the suspected area then call the Police,” he said.

If a passenger claims to have boarded a wrong taxi midway the journey, all passengers must vacate the taxi and call the Police to check, he said. “If there is a nearby Police station, the drivers must drive there immediately and let the taxi be checked.”

UTODA, he added, had acquired machines to check people entering the taxi parks.

The booking manager at the new bus terminal, Stella Mugume, said they had closed all outlets except one exit and entry.

Twaha Sewaya of the Qualicell bus terminal entrance said: “We have been checking even before this incident but tightening up the security is good.”
Alice Alinyikira, a hawker in the Old Taxi Park, said: “This will help us work with a settled mind because the taxi parks are congested.”

City Markets and shopping malls
Security has also been beefed up in city markets. Old Kampala Police yesterday educated vendors at Park Yard Market on how to detect bombs.

The market chairman, Sulaiman Lubega, said more policemen had been deployed and called on the vendors to vacate the market by 6:00pm.

“We have also given tags to the guards for proper identification,” he said.
The New Taxi Park had a heavy Police presence with several check-points.
At the Old Taxi Park, drivers and conductors checked all passengers.

At Nakumatt, security officers checked all vehicles, while the nearby Garden City guards scanned all handbags.
Security was also tight at Shoprite Lugogo. The checks at government buildings like Parliament have also been reinforced.

Born-Again churches stop overnight prayers
Some Pentecostal churches have suspended overnight prayers and crusades.

The National Fellowship of Born-Again Churches’ chairman, Bishop David Kiganda, during a meeting with the Kampala mayor, Nasser Sebaggala, yesterday said metal detectors would be placed at church entrances.

Kiganda said the churches had also decided to stop housing stranded persons for a night.

Church of Uganda Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi called for tighter security at places of worship, saying they can be targeted by terrorists.

Orombi, who on Wednesday led a special service at All Saints Cathedral Nakasero to remember the dead, said churches gather many people together, making them vulnerable.

By Cyprian Musoke, Brian Mayanja, Nickson Turyahikayo, Florence Nakaayi, Maria Wamala and Justine Nakitende