The New Year presents 12 months of opportunity

By Emilian Kayima

The security agencies, with the Uganda Police Force in the lead, are proud to have delivered 2018 end of year festivities almost crime-free.

There were very few incidents of crime and road accidents. We worked with all parties to create a formidable team that ensured safety for all. Indeed, we drew synergies that gave us the pride of feeling great as security officers.

Each year presents challenges for us to address. Challenges are part of life and truly, if life stopped being challenging, it would cease to be meaningful.

Often times, we begin and end each year in celebratory moods. We must not take the hundreds of thousands of messages, cards, gifts and parties wishing us a happy, peaceful, prosperous New Year for granted.

We have to work for all those or else, it simply becomes a ritual, albeit a useless one. This calls for focused and strategic thinking, planning, sharing information, leading to precise execution of mission at all levels.

It matters how we prepare for the 12 months presented to us now for the year 2019. In life, there are pessimists, optimists, non-starters and the "pull him down" characters.

Each of us can have someone to blame for our woes if we choose to take that direction. But deep down your heart, you know that the actual problem is not the person you are blaming but yourself. How can that be? Each of us must remember that we are different from others, wired with capabilities to wither any storm if only we chose that direction, defined our goals and roles clearly and executed our missions well.

Look, it is the reason those who write down their annual resolutions, share them with loved ones often "shoot their target" with relative ease.

There is clarity of purpose, self-drive and support. Equally, there is fear of failure and disappointment. If you are accountable to no one, you will hardly achieve your goals because you will even lack the much desired cheers along your road of struggle.

These 12 months might fly out of our sight so easily without us noticing what we are missing.

Before we know about the advent of January, February craziness will be knocking at our doors, reminding us that we have to run around shopping, paying schools fees and taking children to school.

There are those of us with children that will be joining Senior One, Senior Five and universities. Those will have their time running faster if these realities are not factored in the equation.

See how Women's Day, Easter Sunday, Martyrs Day, Budget day, Eid Day and all these holidays can get you unawares? It is your time that gets lost without trace, putting you in an awkward position of blame games or finger pointing.

It is a reality that poverty perpetuates crime. Ill health does the same. Bad upbringing and bad examples add to the problem.

The lack of a strong code of conduct enshrined in our moral values complicates matters further, making it appear okay to commit a crime and got away with it especially white collar crime.

A chicken thief caught stealing from a home of a white collar criminal is severely condemned both in words and action, with media running the show and asking the Police to parade the "criminal" before the cameras.

Both are wrong but one is caught and the other is still at large.

They are partners in crime, probably working in different time zones and having different targeted victims.

Look, safety and security are so crucial that their absence pose a grave danger that automatically predicts failure.

We can be hard targets, this time round, if we make the cautious choice. It starts with preparing your mind, finding the appropriate information and sharing it with those around you.

When we increase our levels of knowledge, we automatically become active players and equal and assertive partners when handling matters of concern, especially our safety and security.

Therefore, the 12 months are for us to hassle, to gain. By the way, 12 is such a magical number that when studied well, would set the platform for our success this year.

There are 12 months in a year as pointed above, Israel is made up of 12 tribes, Jesus had 12 disciples and 12 is the age of criminal responsibility here in Uganda.

Surprisingly, when courts of law deliver a judgment and it is not implemented in 12 years, it becomes automatically stale.

And some people in Uganda own land because they occupied it 12 years before the promulgation of the 1995 Constitution.

The power of 12 must be used to our advantage as a country, starting with you dear reader. It is day three into the New Year. The clock is ticking.

Writer is a senior Police officer