Kayihura names top drug suburbs

By John Agaba & Andrew Ssenyonga

Inspector General of Police Gen. Kale Kayihura, yesterday named Kampala suburbs of Kabalagala, Bunga and Ggaba as the haven for drug traffickers in Uganda.

He said drug traffickers mainly from Pakistan, Afghanistan and some West African countries were using the city suburbs to coordinate their activities. He named cocaine and heroin as the drugs at the centre of these illegal transactions.
 

“We have a big problem of drugs,” said Kayihura. “These traffickers from Pakistan and Afghanistan come here and you shield them. But you know the dangers of drugs. You know we lost an MP because of drugs.”
 

This was during the re-launch of the community policing initiative at the Pearl of Africa Nursery and Primary School in Kabalagala, Kampala. Kayihura appealed to the public to partner with the police to curb this vice of drug trafficking.
“We know you interact with these people. If you know anyone dealing in drugs, we want you to notify us. Drugs are bad,” said Kayihura.

He also asked the Local Council leaders to be vigilant and to register every single one new entrant in their area to avert crime. “LC1’s you should register every new person in your area,” Kayihura said.

“We need data to know everyone who enters our villages. The people who bombed us (the July 11, 2010 bomb blasts at the Lugogo Rugby Grounds and the Ethiopian Village in Kabalagala) were staying here in Namasuba for about two months planning their moves. But no one knew about them,” he said.
 

“Then, these men who killed a policeman and run away with mobile money in Kajjansi. They were from here, from South Sudan. We need to know who is who.”
 

Kayihura warned his junior officers of being lazy, saying “if you do not want to work in Kampala because there is a lot of work, you tell us, so we can transfer you to other areas where there is less work. Or, if you are tired, you tell us that you want to resign.”
 

“There are times I make my rounds and I don’t see any policeman. Those of you who are lazy, you need to repent. You need to be born again. Because you are letting down our people,” said Kayihura.
 

“I am not going to accept laziness, Felix Kaweesi (Kampala Metropolitan Police boss), we need to change things. I want Kampala to be crime free. These murderers, these things of people killing others like goats. No.No. No,” he said.
 

He said since the forces installed police booths along the Northern Bypass, crime rates on the road had reduced.