Arua fracas was preventable

By Ronald Avutia Kizito

It is often said "prevention is better than cure." The Arua fracas that has dominated the media and contributed to multiplier incidences even beyond the country was preventable if careful security planning, analyses and execution was in place.

Planning and risk analyses are essential and central to the success of any business or service no matter how large or small.

Taking time to generate ideas, formulate them, devise a strategy and anticipate possible problems seemed not enough in the Arua case. Security was skewed and slanted towards only guarding the event attended by the President, while neglecting the other rallies due to the underestimation that they did not matter. Yet to protect the President, realistically security needed to have deployed at those other rallies. As a result, the security themselves don't seem to understand until now how the fracas unfolded. 

One wonders how the visibly present security suddenly relapsed into a slumber that allowed the Presidential Motorcade with a right of way to end into a melee involving another rally group and more dramatically a grader returning from a field work. However, anyone with some management skills will understand that complacency took effect. Security personnel inserted themselves into the glorious mood of the voters who were following the President as he was leaving rather than providing objective security. 

Not long ago, in the same town, two young boys riding a bodaboda crushed into the motorcade of the First Lady and Minister of Education Hon Janet Museveni. By the time of the President's visit, that event alone must have offered lessons.

Even more, the funeral procession of the slain MP Hon Ibrahim Abiriga was shamefully eclipsed by a fracas with security. The funeral service ambulance was vandalised by youthful protesters who claimed Muslims carry the caskets on their shoulders while reciting prayers. 

On reaching home, thousands of well-set yellow chairs were vandalised on grounds that Muslims don't pray while seated on chairs. But the real challenge was a Christian leading the funeral committee. No lessons were learnt from these serial mistakes.

Amidst the above, the arrival of His Excellency Yoweri Kaguta Museveni was preceded by Bryan White who excited the youth with a new poverty reduction business model and strategy not well articulated other than its "free-money distribution concept." Youth formed unguided, rogue and money-hungry groups under the close watchful eyes of the Police and the army.

Al-Shabab like reckless street behaviour with youths racing up and down singing weird songs while smoking opium and using other drugs was open. It all led to fracas round one that greeted the launch of the Brian White Foundation days before the President arrived. Aware of this, how did security allow fracas round two. 

Day to day and overnight, youth were feasting on several cows undisturbed deep in the wilderness of Barifa Forest as if they were rebels. They were keeping vigil in expectation for their "free-cash bonanza" from Bryan White who at this stage turned himself into a campaigner. This prevailing situation was ripe for another fracas, but the Police and army offered blind cover. 

When the excited "free-cash-expectant-youth" finally came out of the forest to attend the rallies, a strategic security plan should have been set up, but with the already slanted, selective and skewed security on ground, no wonder, they ended up so close to the President yet their "free cash" promises had yet to be fulfilled. The risk into which the President was subsequently put was amateur in nature but unimaginable, unfair and realistically shameful to our forces who have achieved professional stature and recognition globally. Was this a laxity that went wrong?

Instead of accusations and counter accusations, let the country admit this fracas must act as a wakeup call. There is a way the Police and the army must behave even if they have some political feelings. After all, philosophers concluded a long time ago that:  "Man is a political animal." Security plans and implementation at such times like the elections must be objective, proactive, robust and collective. The Opposition in the country must also recognise, respect and accept the fact that security forces belong to us all and we must all respect, support and co-operate with them.

The writer is the planning, monitoring and evaluation officer of the West Nile Private Sector Consortium-Arua