By Mulengera Reporter
Police Chief IGP Martins Okoth Ochola has launched the 2019 crime and traffic/road safety report at the Force’s headquarters at Naguru in Kampala, indicating that at least 10 criminal gangs had been busted.
IGP Ochola said that he was “happy to report that in 2019, a total of 10 criminal syndicates were dismantled, their members arrested and charged accordingly, and others have been sentenced to death by hanging.” These were part of organized gangs that had “committed heinous crimes” in Kampala Metropolitan Policing Area, Greater Masaka, and Busoga, among other areas. More criminal gangs (16 in total) had been dismantled in 2018. The 10 gangs Killed 17 people, shot and injured 10 others, stole about Shs267m and three guns, among other things.
The gangs include: Nkurunziza Sam Criminal Gang which operated in Ntungamo, Old Kampala and Buloba, Mwebaze-Kakuru Criminal Gang (Lyantonde Gang), Kasolo Coporiyamu alias Arsenal Criminal Group, Ssemivumbi Muize Criminal Gang (Masaka-Nyendo Group) and Ssezibwa/Kampala/Romi wine/Kyengera Syndicate. Others busted were Buloba-Kiteezi Criminal Syndicate, Iganga-Kamuli-Entebbe Criminal Syndicate, Kyengera – Nsangi Criminal Syndicate, Queen Elizabeth National Park Criminal Syndicate and Bundibugyo-Kibiito/Bunyangabu-Kasese Criminal Syndicate
Overall, the report shows a 9.8 per cent reduction in the volume of crimes reported to Police from 238,746 cases filed in 2018 to 215,224 cases in 2019. Ochola attributed this drop in crime rate to “deliberate efforts by the Government of Uganda to tackle crime, efforts of the men and women of the Uganda Police Force and continued support from our sister security agencies to fight crime.”
Fire cases fell by almost two per cent compared with 2018. Noting that there were 24 false calls that the Fire and Rescue Services Directorate responded to, Ochola warned members of the public against playing with police emergency numbers. “This does not only put the lives of our officers in danger but is also a waste of resources and time for the Force. I urge the citizens of our country to desist from making false calls about fire emergencies,” he said.
FLIP SIDE
An 11 per cent fall was recorded in defilement cases but the IGP emphasized that the fact that 13,682 children had been raped in 2019 was “unaccepted,” ordering his officers to do more to apprehend defilers and make Uganda safer for girls. “Defilement still poses a big problem to the Police,” he admitted.
Meanwhile, there was a slight rise in homicide, cyber-crimes, corruption related cases and accidents. Crashes increased by 0.4 per cent from 12,805 in 2018 to 12,858 in 2019. Of these, 3,407 were fatal, 5,992 were serious while 3,459 were minor.
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