Like they say, “an apple does not fall far from its tree,” Senior Presidential Advisor for Special Operations, Major General Muhoozi Kainerugaba warned Ugandans on guns usage and backed his father, President Yoweri Museveni’s 10 point security strategy on fighting criminality.
First Son Maj Gen Muhoozi, the former commander of Special Forces Command, was speaking on Wednesday night on NTV Men program hosted by Peter Igaga. During the interview, Muhoozi warned Ugandans against gun ownership saying that criminality has been fueled by guns being in civilians.
“I don’t think that gun ownership is a remedy to crime because look at what is happening in the U.S, where gun ownership is enshrined in the Constitution. Their guns are being used for crime. But in the UK where you are not absolutely allowed to own guns crime is much lower,” Muhoozi said.
“We had communities of people who had guns like the Karamajong until we had to disarm them of 40,000 guns because they causing problems to themselves and also other clans and neighbouring tribes. Guns are not the answer to insecurity.”
Gen Muhoozi also backed President Museveni’s recent 10-point strategy on how to fight criminality by using technology of camera installations, alarm systems among others.
“Technology is an enabler. The President has been talking about CCTV camera installations and that is surely another enabler for security. In advanced countries like UK or US, you can hardly make a move without a camera,” Muhoozi said.
Gen Muhoozi also noted that Uganda’s security situation has tremendously improved save for a few urban criminality case.
“There were 40,000 guns in Karamoja at one point, and the level of violence and criminality there was high, they were rebels groups in this country not so long ago like LRA, ADF, so you can’t compare what Uganda went through in the past with now. There is just no comparison. At one time we had 1.5m people in IDP camps in the north, so security situation has improved tremendously because all those rebel groups were defeated. Overt military challenges to the state were all defeated. What is causing concern now is violent criminality especially in the urban areas,” Muhoozi said.
On June 20, Museveni while addressing Parliament on the security situation in the country, listed a 10-point strategy that among them include fingerprinting all guns in circulation that government is set to embark on to fight criminality in the country. The other strategies include; installation of cameras in the highways and towns and streets and installation of a modern forensic laboratory which will capture the palm prints and DNA of the criminals.
