Police to work with public on terrorism

Aug 02, 2012

In light of the increasing terror threat in Uganda, the best way to fight terrorism is by directly involving the public

By Innocent Anguyo Alia

In light of the increasing terror threat in Uganda, the best way to fight terrorism is by directly involving the public, the Uganda police force spokesperson Simon Kuteesa has revealed.

In an interview with New Vision on Thursday, Kuteesa observed that the plots and plans of terrorists can only be foiled if the police work in partnership with the communities they serve.

“Because citizens are first exposed to terrorist activity, informing them of the common methods and motivations of terrorists can greatly increase the security of the country.” Kuteesa said.

Kuteesa urged members of public to disclose information about suspicious terror activities and objects through police toll free lines: 1800199699, 1800199399, 0800199139 and 0800122291.

Kuteesa’s comments come days after police uncovered a plot by an international terror suspect of American nationality, Mohammed Liban Haji, to sneak into the country and cause havoc.

To facilitate the education of the public about terrorism, the United States (U.S) government has donated equipment worth billions of shillings to the Uganda police.

The equipments included: four vans, four portable generators, computers, projectors, portable tents and public address systems.

 The U.S funded counter-terrorism programme will train the public in identifying and detecting terrorists and terrorism objects.

 The programme will begin on August 6th 2012 with community forums in the city suburbs of Kawempe, Katwe, Kira road police station, and Mukono police station.

 Thereafter, it will then be rolled out to 100 other communities across the country selected on the basis of terrorism recruitment and radicalization risk of the district.

 Kuteesa said the Police, together with other security agencies, had raised security a notch higher in light of the current terror threat.

 

 

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