Kenya-Uganda security operation nets 17 suspects
Feb 08, 2009
A Kenya-Uganda joint security operation has netted 17 suspected criminals operating in eastern Uganda and on the common border.
By Daniel Edyegu
A Kenya-Uganda joint security operation has netted 17 suspected criminals operating in eastern Uganda and on the common border.
Four guns with several rounds of ammunition were also recovered in the 10-month operation by the police’s Rapid Response (RRU) Unit that started early last year.
Addressing the press at Mbale Central Police Station on Saturday, the commandant of the operation and RRU commissioner, David Magara, said the suspects include Police constables and soldiers.
Other items recovered include; television sets, mobile phones, radio sets and household utensils.
Magara said 10 out of the 17 suspects were notorious criminals who had earlier been convicted for similar offences. He explained that some of the suspects operated on either side of the Uganda and Kenya border.
“Whenever they commit a crime in Uganda, they flee to Kenya and vice-versa. So we have liaised with our counterparts in Kenya to root out the criminals. This operation is to continue until the region is deemed secure,†Magara said.
“Some of the suspects were apprehended during the ‘Operation Wembley’ in 2002 and sentenced to various prison terms. Rather than reform, they came out of prison and embarked on committing similar offences like aggravated robbery and murder,†Magara said.
He explained that the Inspector General of Police, Maj. Gen. Kale Kayihura, sanctioned the operation after a spate of burglaries and highway robberies were registered in the region.
The Police publicist, Judith Nabakooba, said the suspects would be tried before the general court martial.
Nabakooba said Police had identified the Soroti-Mbale, Mbale-Tororo, Bugiri-Iganga and Busia-Tororo-Malaba highways as black spots where most highway robberies were staged.
“We have stepped up surveillance and patrols on these routes. The public should also help us identify the suspected criminals during community policing sessions,†Nabakooba said.
A Kenya-Uganda joint security operation has netted 17 suspected criminals operating in eastern Uganda and on the common border.
Four guns with several rounds of ammunition were also recovered in the 10-month operation by the police’s Rapid Response (RRU) Unit that started early last year.
Addressing the press at Mbale Central Police Station on Saturday, the commandant of the operation and RRU commissioner, David Magara, said the suspects include Police constables and soldiers.
Other items recovered include; television sets, mobile phones, radio sets and household utensils.
Magara said 10 out of the 17 suspects were notorious criminals who had earlier been convicted for similar offences. He explained that some of the suspects operated on either side of the Uganda and Kenya border.
“Whenever they commit a crime in Uganda, they flee to Kenya and vice-versa. So we have liaised with our counterparts in Kenya to root out the criminals. This operation is to continue until the region is deemed secure,†Magara said.
“Some of the suspects were apprehended during the ‘Operation Wembley’ in 2002 and sentenced to various prison terms. Rather than reform, they came out of prison and embarked on committing similar offences like aggravated robbery and murder,†Magara said.
He explained that the Inspector General of Police, Maj. Gen. Kale Kayihura, sanctioned the operation after a spate of burglaries and highway robberies were registered in the region.
The Police publicist, Judith Nabakooba, said the suspects would be tried before the general court martial.
Nabakooba said Police had identified the Soroti-Mbale, Mbale-Tororo, Bugiri-Iganga and Busia-Tororo-Malaba highways as black spots where most highway robberies were staged.
“We have stepped up surveillance and patrols on these routes. The public should also help us identify the suspected criminals during community policing sessions,†Nabakooba said.