President Museveni Police bond ban sparks debate
According to Police, the cattle theft racket, which mainly targets the cattle corridor districts, is masterminded by senior cops.
President Museveni Police bond ban sparks debate
NewVision Reporter
@NewVision
KAMPALA - In his end-of-year message, President Yoweri Museveni announced a ban on Police bonds, citing the move necessary to curb the rising wave of crime, including livestock and coffee theft.
Cattle theft in Uganda has evolved into a sophisticated and lucrative enterprise facilitated by underground networks that have spread across East Africa, an investigation reveals.
According to Police, the cattle theft racket, which mainly targets the cattle corridor districts, is masterminded by senior cops.
Investigations show that the Savannah cattle corridor that covers the districts of Luwero, Nakasongola and Nakaseke is one of the areas that have been greatly affected by the emerging sophisticated cattle theft racket.
For instance, between May and June 2024, police detectives said, a total of 112 cases of cattle theft were registered within the three districts.
In May 2024, Nakasongola registered the highest number of cases (32) followed by Luwero (11), while Nakaseke registered nine (9) cases.
In June, Police in the area registered 60 cases of cattle theft in the Savannah cattle corridor, out of which, 43 were reported from Nakasongola district, nine in Nakaseke, and eight from Luwero.
Yet, according to the Nakasongola district LC5 chairperson, Sam Kigula, on average, 50 cows are stolen every month.
The canter truck that got involved in the Kasangati accident while carrying suspected stolen cows. (New Vision/Files)
It is alleged that the criminals behind the cattle theft syndicate also have spies who conduct surveillance before the main actors’ raid and load the stolen cattle before they reach the buyers or promoters.
"We are puzzled that some people manage to pass these roadblocks at night, Godfrey Lutalo, a livestock farmer in Nakasongola who this week lost five cows to thieves, said.
In Luwero, detectives said: “The gang uses specific market centres while executing their theft missions. For example, in Luwero, there is Wobulenzi, Busiika, Bamunaanika and Ziroobwe. Most of the cattle from these areas end up in Gayaza but are usually offloaded from a place called Kasasiro.
Others are usually offloaded from Kiteezi before they reach Kalerwe market for sale. Sometimes, the gangs use Kafu route to transport the stolen cattle up to Masindi and Hoima respectively.”
According to the 2023 Police annual crime report, a total of 8,442 cases of cattle theft were reported, compared to 7,975 cases in the previous year. Besides cattle, 6,438 goats, 1,040 sheep, 36 donkeys and 1,207 pigs were stolen from farmers in 2023.
Most recently on July 10 last year, Police captured five suspected cattle thieves in Kyankwanzi district.
Addressing the nation on Tuesday this week, Museveni urged the Police to heed his directive, lest they individually face the music.
While several lawmakers support efforts to combat the aforementioned vice(s), disagreements persist over the approach. Some like Theodore Ssekikubo (Lwemiyaga county, NRM), a lawyer while speaking to New Vision Online on Thursday, January 2, 2025, warned that jailing suspects beyond the 48-hour rule shall construe an infringement on the supreme law.
“The President should be warned that those accused remain suspects, they are not yet charged. Or once they have not admitted that they are thieves, they remain suspects whose innocence must be preserved and protected at all costs,” he argued.
One of the cows that were seized by Police in Luwero while it had been fixed inside a salon car. (New Vision/Files)
Adding that such orders can only arise in scenarios where there is a legal vacuum which is not the case in Uganda.
“But now we have an elaborate criminal justice system, which provides for the processing of suspects and the bond is available to all Ugandans irrespective of the degree of guilt that the President is envisaging… We all decry theft but [legal] measures must be taken. At least let the Police process these suspects within the 48 hours, let them come before [the] court and I think the President should come out as a winner but not the one agonising Ugandans,” Ssekikubo said.
Fast forward, he contended that the move might have been triggered by the wanton embezzlement of funds meant to spur common citizens’ development such as the Parish Development Model (PDM).
“It is a wake-up call to the investigative arms of Government. The process should be elaborate, they shouldn’t leave it to the Police alone. Even the LCs, because it is the chairman LC2 at the Parish who stamps and endorses the beneficiaries. The trail should start from there so that once it comes to light, theft has occurred, it is easy to trace, apprehend and prosecute,” Ssekikubo observed.
MP Theodore Ssekikubo (File Photo)
Pending e-animal identification Bill
However, on the other hand, Enos Asiimwe (Kabula county) lauded President Yoweri Museveni’s latest directive as long overdue.
He revealed that the directive aligns with his earlier proposal to introduce an electronic animal identification system private member’s Bill two years ago.
“The intention was to have every animal registered with an identification tag so that we can trace the origin of any animal. Be it a goat, pig or anything, we can identify them and trace them to the farm where they came from. Meaning that if you are to slaughter any animal in a butchery, it implies that there must be a document right from the farm to whom that identification number is registered,” Asiimwe said.
“Let’s say Asiimwe’s farm is registered as Lyantonde which is L something, that means the person who took my cow must have my authorisation letter, Local Council (LC) authorisation letter, area leader’s letter and a permit actually to slaughter that cow or to transport it. But at this point, it is very hard, all animals at times look alike,” he added.
Unfortunately, the Bill was taken up by the agriculture ministry, which at the time was studying the same proposition.
Official information indicates that as of 2018, Uganda had 14.2 million cattle, 16 million goats, 4.5 million sheep, 47.6 million poultry and 4.1 million pigs.
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