Operation Wembley Dissected
Mar 05, 2003
It was reported that Operation Wembley had wound up its operations and in its place a different unit, the Violent Crime Crack Unit, established.
By Chibita wa Duallo
It was reported that Operation Wembley had wound up its operations and in its place a different unit, the Violent Crime Crack Unit, established. It will be remembered that the operation was set up as an adhoc response to a growing wave of violent crime that had hit the country, especially the city.
There had been increased daring raids on people moving with money within the city. Forex bureaus were some of the most common targets. Some businessmen had been ambushed and killed and even Makerere University had not been spared. Several students were shot and killed in and around the University campus. It seemed like the security situation was running out of control.
The robbers had become so daring that near Buganda Road Primary School, in the centre of town, and in Kibuli, the robbers actually engaged the Police patrol in a shoot out and at least one Police Constable lost his life in the process. The Buganda Road and Kibuli incidents were in broad daylight.
It was against such a background that the President decided to bolster the efforts of the Police patrol by setting up a special task force to deal with this spate of robberies and murders. The force quickly became code-named Operation Wembley
Katumba Wamala, the Inspector General of Police was the Chairman of this Operation and Colonel Kayanja was in charge of its day to day operations. Within a short time the Operation had managed to engage and ‘put out of action’ several notorious armed criminals, notable among whom was the infamous Black, who at one time was quoted as saying he would kill Colonel Kayanja before Wembley got to him. Black was eventually killed by the Police as he tried to escape from lawful custody.
Several guns and ammunition were recovered from in and around the City before the Operation spread country wide. Hundreds of suspects were also rounded up and a Court-Martial constituted to try them. The main reason for the decision to try the Wembley suspects under the Court-Martial rather than the ordinary Courts was mostly the nature of the criminals apprehended in the course of the operation.
It was found that most of these suspects were hardened criminals who had been in and out of prison. They were either out on bail or had been released for lack of sufficient evidence. Most of them had been found in possession of firearms but had been released due to the nature of the offence under the Firearms Act.
It became apparent that the ordinary Courts and the ordinary law of illegal possession of firearms, a bailable offence, were insufficient to deal with this new breed of criminals. Hence the decision to try them under a different and more strict regime, the Court -Martial.
Yet it was the decision to try the Wembley suspects by Court-Martial, which seemed to elicit the greatest negative reaction from the legal fraternity and of course, the suspects. Under the National Resistance Army Statute, there is a provision where civilians found in possession of firearms and other military gear can be tried and treated like soldiers. The rationale is simply that if you look, behave and carry equipment reserved for soldiers, then you should be treated like one. This therefore put these Wembley suspects under the ambit of the Court-Martial.
The Constitutional Court recently dismissed one of several actions brought against Operation Wembley. Three people had petitioned the Court to declare the Operation unconstitutional. The Court summarily dismissed the petition for being misconceived.
As the operation winds down its operations and transforms its activities into the Violent Crime Crack Unit, the bulk of the work it generated is left with the Court to handle. As usual, the protracted process of trying the suspects and ensuring that justice is done is much slower than the process of arresting and detaining suspects.
It is conceivable that some operational mistakes were made. Some innocent people arrested through personal grudges and innocent mistakes. The Court should be able to continually sort the innocent from the guilty as it has already done. Lawyers have been allowed to represent suspects and access has been given to relatives to visit those under detention.
Overall therefore, the Operation has achieved a lot of what it was set to accomplish. Daring robberies have drastically gone down in and around the city. Many guns, which were in the hands of robbers and murderers have been picked up. The sources of many of these guns have been established and the loopholes that enabled them to end up in wrong hands have hopefully, been plugged. Ends
It was reported that Operation Wembley had wound up its operations and in its place a different unit, the Violent Crime Crack Unit, established. It will be remembered that the operation was set up as an adhoc response to a growing wave of violent crime that had hit the country, especially the city.
There had been increased daring raids on people moving with money within the city. Forex bureaus were some of the most common targets. Some businessmen had been ambushed and killed and even Makerere University had not been spared. Several students were shot and killed in and around the University campus. It seemed like the security situation was running out of control.
The robbers had become so daring that near Buganda Road Primary School, in the centre of town, and in Kibuli, the robbers actually engaged the Police patrol in a shoot out and at least one Police Constable lost his life in the process. The Buganda Road and Kibuli incidents were in broad daylight.
It was against such a background that the President decided to bolster the efforts of the Police patrol by setting up a special task force to deal with this spate of robberies and murders. The force quickly became code-named Operation Wembley
Katumba Wamala, the Inspector General of Police was the Chairman of this Operation and Colonel Kayanja was in charge of its day to day operations. Within a short time the Operation had managed to engage and ‘put out of action’ several notorious armed criminals, notable among whom was the infamous Black, who at one time was quoted as saying he would kill Colonel Kayanja before Wembley got to him. Black was eventually killed by the Police as he tried to escape from lawful custody.
Several guns and ammunition were recovered from in and around the City before the Operation spread country wide. Hundreds of suspects were also rounded up and a Court-Martial constituted to try them. The main reason for the decision to try the Wembley suspects under the Court-Martial rather than the ordinary Courts was mostly the nature of the criminals apprehended in the course of the operation.
It was found that most of these suspects were hardened criminals who had been in and out of prison. They were either out on bail or had been released for lack of sufficient evidence. Most of them had been found in possession of firearms but had been released due to the nature of the offence under the Firearms Act.
It became apparent that the ordinary Courts and the ordinary law of illegal possession of firearms, a bailable offence, were insufficient to deal with this new breed of criminals. Hence the decision to try them under a different and more strict regime, the Court -Martial.
Yet it was the decision to try the Wembley suspects by Court-Martial, which seemed to elicit the greatest negative reaction from the legal fraternity and of course, the suspects. Under the National Resistance Army Statute, there is a provision where civilians found in possession of firearms and other military gear can be tried and treated like soldiers. The rationale is simply that if you look, behave and carry equipment reserved for soldiers, then you should be treated like one. This therefore put these Wembley suspects under the ambit of the Court-Martial.
The Constitutional Court recently dismissed one of several actions brought against Operation Wembley. Three people had petitioned the Court to declare the Operation unconstitutional. The Court summarily dismissed the petition for being misconceived.
As the operation winds down its operations and transforms its activities into the Violent Crime Crack Unit, the bulk of the work it generated is left with the Court to handle. As usual, the protracted process of trying the suspects and ensuring that justice is done is much slower than the process of arresting and detaining suspects.
It is conceivable that some operational mistakes were made. Some innocent people arrested through personal grudges and innocent mistakes. The Court should be able to continually sort the innocent from the guilty as it has already done. Lawyers have been allowed to represent suspects and access has been given to relatives to visit those under detention.
Overall therefore, the Operation has achieved a lot of what it was set to accomplish. Daring robberies have drastically gone down in and around the city. Many guns, which were in the hands of robbers and murderers have been picked up. The sources of many of these guns have been established and the loopholes that enabled them to end up in wrong hands have hopefully, been plugged. Ends