Kayihura condemns laxity in crime preventers

PIC: Police chief Kayihura talking to residents outside the home of Faith Komugisha, who was attacked and murdered recently. (Credit: Adolf Ayoreka)

POLICING | CRIME

By Adolf Ayoreka in Entebbe

Following the recent gang rape and murder of two women in Abayita Ababiri in Katabi town council in Wakiso district, the Inspector General of Police Gen Kale Kayihura made an impromptu visit to their homes in what he termed as a fact-finding mission.

Last week on Tuesday, 31-year-old Faith Komugisha was attacked on her way home, gang-raped before being murdered and her body dumped just a few meters away in Kitinda village.

That was barely two weeks after the body of a UPDF soldier's pregnant wife was discovered in a garden not far from her home in Abayita Ababiri.

The two murders, in the same area, were similar. Both women were found naked and with sticks poked into their private parts. This identical fashion of execution led to the belief that it was the same group that committed the two grisly murders.

'It's absurd'

Monday afternoon, police chief Kayihura made a surprise visit to the homes of the two victims in a bid to ascertain some facts related to these murders.

Kayihura at the house where Faith had gone to watch TV before she was attacked

In some of his remarks, he attributed it to lack of neighborhood watch with communities.

"I came here as an investigator, I did not alert anyone. I just wanted to find out what exactly happened, but when you look at the distance from which Faith Komugisha was killed, it's quite absurd to find out that no-one heard about it," Kayihura told residents.

"She was strangled to death. I think there is laxity in our crime preventers, they have not helped so much at some point to prevent these crimes in villages. There is a lot to be done."

He added: "When you look at this whole place, there is no security light, when you pass here at night it's totally dark even on the road. I think we need to extend security and streetlights on these roads to curb these crimes but good enough I am told that some suspects have been arrested and we are going to arrest more.

"They cannot go innocently."

The police chief interacted with the keen residents

Veteran journalist Andrew Mwenda was also there

Kayihura told the area residents that as police, they are going to re-initiate the mayumba kumi strategy to reduce crimes in villages.

The mayumba kumi (literally ten houses) move was an idea brought up in the early 1980s but never really took off. It would involve ten houses forming a cell with a leader for local administrative purposes. The intention was to help resolve community issues, including conflict resolution and neighbourhood watch.

During his visit, Kayihura also walked to Abayita Ababiri town to the home of late Gorrette Nansubuga who was the other victim murdered earlier in June.

He told residents there that he is to hold village meetings starting with Tuesday to sensitize them on secutiy matters and seek their suggestions on the possible ways of curbing crime in Entebbe and the country at large.

The Kitinda area LC1 chairperson Elizabeth Nalubega Kiruluuta said that the husband of Komugisha, Godfrey Nsubuga, was arrested alongside others.

She commended the work so far being done by police to check the rate of crime commission in Entebbe.

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