In Wakiso, we panic over the next victim

CRIME | MURDER

By Simon J. Mone

The occurrences of recent weeks in Wakiso district continues to establish a trend that frightens many a people.

Earlier in the year, a group of gangs terrorised citizens in urban towns across the country. Masaka, Gulu and Soroti were among the hardest hit municipalities. Iron bar hit men or "mutayimba smackers", as they are popularly known, rearing an ugly head night after night.

Then we also had a group of people dropping leaflets,announcing their arrival around Kampala. And they would arrive at peoples' gates as pre-planned. This sentresidents around Kampala into panic. All these happening around the country under close watch of the police!

And little was done to answer the burning questions about the local persons' security. The last two months have had women in Entebbe and Nansana Municipalities lock their doors earlier than before, with the hope of not being the next victims of gruesome murder.

Hopefully, tomorrow when we wake up, we don't get news of a further case of a murdered lady. More so, in the way that it is being done. But recent killings do not seem to guide us to a direction where lives, more so of ladies are appreciated. We ask where the men and women that take charge of law and order are. As we continue to be in wonderment about who will be the latest victim.

But for the statistics that these things are happening to women, should make it all the more terrifying and sickening. In this bewilderment, we think about the many hurdles that women have to jump over. Look at domestic violence, a majority of sufferers are women. You look at gender-based violence and victims are often women. And rape victims? You cannot turn your face away from women.

Many women around the world are facing the wrath of their violent spouses. While some suffer silently, a number now try to seek help from women-oriented organisations and family members. But attempts at the family level are always ignored because family traditional values give such reports less importance.

And so women are often reduced to misery and sharing their troubles amongst themselves. Now we get punctuations of violent husbands in recent murders. Nansana and Entebbe Municipalities are now death traps for women. Just as we think we have seen the very last victim of such heinous crimes, another case drops.

As if from the skies! All in similar circumstances like the previous ones.Then you wonder whether the professionals who have the obligation of safeguarding the lives of local people areactually on top of things. It leaves all of us asking a basic question. Of why must it have to be done in that way?

Without jumping onto the bandwagon of speculations and blame games, this is a humble plea. To those who have female relatives; sisters, mother (as if there anybody without), this is another of the problems that demand immediate answers. It is unfortunate that debates have turned into blame games, which are not helpful to relatives of the murdered young girls. Instead, such debates cause trauma.

Accept that loved ones have breathed their last under very brutal circumstance is too much to bear. We ought to live in a society where women are treated with the requisite respect. And foster a society that takes women to be stakeholders in day-to-day life. Whatever the victims may have done to prompt such actions is not worth the actions against them.

The crime must not touch anybody again before the answers arrive. We need to make violence against young girls an extremely risky piece of activity for people to get involved in. Protect women to ensure they feel safe.

The writer is a civil engineer