According to the new police orders, security guards who walk alone or are deployed at their duty stations alone will be arrested and have their firearms confiscated.
Through the director of police operations, assistant Inspector General of Police (AIGP) Edward Ochom, the police leadership says that criminals terrorizing people in greater Kampala target and obtain guns from private security guards.
While releasing the directive to Officers in Charge –OC Stations, District and Division Police Commanders –DPCs, police spokesperson, Fred Enanga, said the move is intended to minimize incidents of criminals targeting lonely guards.
Enanga explains that thugs robbed the gun they used in 13 robberies in Mukono from a lonely security guard, Robert Oluka, from Top Security Company. Oluka varnished after losing the gun to thugs. However, the Flying Squad managed to track him down from his hideout in Busembatya last week.
Police say incidents like Oluka’s can be reduced if all private companies adhere to the guidelines of deploying at least two armed guards per station and ensuring they walk in groups.
Some of the 13 robberies committed by a gang that grabbed Oluka’s gun in Mukono include the December 9, 2021 robbery at Immaculate Nanyombi’s shop, where 10 smart phones, two flat screens, and three Lenovo laptops were stolen.
The June 11, 2021 robbery at the home of Ssenkungu Sekyezi, where property worth 6.1 million Shillings was robbed, and the June 17, 2022 robbery at the home of Richard Kabonzi, where a Toyota Noah UAQ 771Q, woofer, and smartphones were robbed.
However, through their umbrella body, The Uganda Private Security Association (TUPSA), the proprietors of private security firms have asked police not to capitalize on a single incident and paint it as a general weakness of private security organizations.
TUPSA Chairperson, Grace Matsiko, says that when Oluka’s gun was robbed, they reported the incident and they are grateful to the security agencies that recovered it.
Matsiko adds that the Mukono incident, where thugs targeted a private security guard, is similar to incidents where police officers or soldiers have been waylaid or attacked at their workstations and killed.
Matsiko adds that they are also facing the challenge of clients who do not want to pay for two guards. Despite being advised that their businesses are at risk because of deploying a single guard, Matsiko says their clients often reject the advice.
Hiring one guard armed with a baton costs between 400,000 and 600,000 shillings every month. Deploying armed guards, depending on experience and level of training, costs 600,000 to 1 million monthly.
Matsiko explains that someone who has property or business worth more than a shilling 300 million prefers to hire a baton guard, which is why robbers, who are in most cases tipped off by insiders, confidently attack and rob such premises