A week ago, two suspected thieves attacked Phionah Namulondo, a banker, residing in Butenga, Kiira municipality.

She says they climbed the perimeter wall to her residence, jumped into the compound and ripped out the headlights of her Mercedes-Benz.

“I reported the matter to the Police, but I suspect that hawkers are behind this because a day before the headlights were taken, two young men found me opening the gate and they told me they were selling a free-to-air TV decoder at sh100,000. Since, I was in need of it, I bought it,” Namulondo narrates.

Namulondo did not know how to install the decoder and its antenna and, therefore, asked them to help her, at a fee.

While installing the antenna, they moved around the house, so that they could get a clear signal direction.

“My maid was surprised to see them moving closer to the perimeter wall behind the house, wondering whether they had to move that far to get the signal. She noticed one of them touching the perimeter wall and they later both moved to the front of the house, installing the antenna at the entrance of the sitting room,” she narrates.

The following night, Namulondo says the thieves climbed the perimeter wall behind her house, jumped into the compound and vandalised her car.

“I suspect that these men who were masquerading as hawkers stole my headlights. Though I reported the case to the Police, I am still worried that they could come back. I have noticed an influx of hawkers in Kiira, moving up and down in big numbers. I do not know why the Police is ignoring the surge in their numbers,” Namulondo says.

With such cases increasingly being reported at different Police stations, there is growing concern in communities and suburbs that hawking is a security threat in homes.

Some property owners and tenants of rentals have been prompted to put signposts on their main gates, warning hawkers not to access their premises.

Hawkers sell items like food, fruits, clothes, shoes, electronic appliances. In city suburbs, they begin their trade as early as 7:00am, traversing the areas of Rubaga, Natetete, Banda, Kireka, Najeera, Namugongo and Kira.

According to some security experts, hawking is a profited business, however, the only challenge is that some of them are not genuine business people.

Therefore, people residing in these areas, should take heed, Charles Rwomushana, a security expert says.

Rwomushana also adds that when hawkers access residential areas, some look out for things that can be easily snatched from the compounds. Or disappear with small items, they find in houses.

“Homeowners should be alert and avoid placing handbags and wallets on tables or in chairs where they are easily targeted,” he says.

Give hawkers uniforms

Ibrahim Kasozi, a landlord owning rental houses and a former legislator of Makindye east, says the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) should consider giving hawkers uniforms.

“They should be registered and given uniforms. This will help the Government to curb crime in residential communities, because, with the country’s high unemployment levels, it will be difficult to stop hawking,” Kasozi advises.