Security tightened on election day

Feb 18, 2011

ENOUGH security personnel will be deployed countrywide to ensure all voters are safe, according to the Inspector General of Police.

By Herbert Ssempogo          
and Josephine Maseruka        
    
       
ENOUGH security personnel will be deployed countrywide to ensure all voters are safe, according to the Inspector General of Police.

Maj. Gen. Kale Kayihura stated: “We shall continue to deploy security forces to ensure that you go to the vote and return to your normal businesses safely. Nobody should intimidate you.”

“Do not think that the state has no capacity to provide security. Anybody planning mischief should stand warned.”

Kayihura warned politicians recruiting men commonly known as kanyamas to “protect” votes at polling stations.

“We shall not hesitate to arrest any individual or group of individuals, who will attempt to interfere with the elections or who will attempt to cause disorder at the polling stations,” he said in a statement issued at the Electoral Commission office in Kampala.

He said vigilante groups were unnecessary because there is enough security. In any case, he said, such people should be at least 20 meters from the polling desk.

Kayihura also said an unidentified politician from western Uganda had been cautioned over recruiting kanyamas near the Old Taxi Park in Kampala.

He issued two hotlines, 0800199966 and 0800199699, for voters to report any intimidation. The force, he warned, would use technology to trace the culprits.  

On the involvement of the army, Kayihura said securing the country was the role of various agencies.

“National security is a collective matter. We have been planning jointly with the army. If the situation warrants, the army will come in,” he said.     

Earlier, EC chairman Eng. Badru Kiggundu had stated: “If my brother (Kayihura) says I am in trouble, I will not hesitate to call for extra security.”
Kayihura said Uganda’s borders would remain open.

He also disclosed that weapons suspected to have been procured for use after the elections were seized in Nebbi district.

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