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BY EDWARD AKAKI
Towards the end of 2021 and the beginning months of 2022, crime rates in the Mt. Moroto region was on high alarm with very high figures of homicides fueled by the rampant raids at the time, child related crimes as well as sexual crimes which was fueled by the waragi according to the authorities.
Assistant Commissioner of Police, Francis Chemusto the Regional Police commander of the Mt. Moroto region says that due to the combined effort of the Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF), Anti-Stock Theft Unit (ASTU) and the Uganda Police Force (UPF), the security levels have been heightened in the region.
According to the statistics he presented, homicide cases registered in the region in the month of July and August was 6 and 5 cases respectively adding that so far only 2 cases registered during this ongoing month of September which is a big decrease from the high figures in the preceding months.
On the same note, Chemusto pointed out that the number of homicides committed by gun violence is unsurprisingly low as many of the illegal guns have been recovered by the joint security forces siting only two(2) cases of homicides by gun in August.
Over the years, child trafficking, early marriages and sexually related cases like rape has been so rampant in Karamoja with hundreds of cases registered in a single month, this according to the RPC was attributed to greed for animals by the parents and guidance of the girl children, hunger and high levels of waragi consumption.
From the July and August crimes report presented, sexual related crimes recorded were 12 and 2 respectively, child related were 37 and 27 meanwhile assaults reduced drastically from 169 in July to a record 49 in August in the whole region.
Attributing such crimes majorly to the high levels of Waragi, a report on impounded waragi was presented.
According to a report by ASTU commandant Commissioner of Police Elias Kasirabo, so far 2770 20 liter jerrycans of local waragi was impounded at the different checkpoints in the region moving by motorcycles, and vehicles while packed in jerrycans, Rwenzori bottles, medical tins among others.
Of the above number, 1782 jerrycans were disposed off with approvals from the court orders and 988 jerrycans awaiting court order to be disposed. He added that the impounded waragi is worth over a billion shillings and at least 22 suspects arrested with 12 already presented before court.
In other cases recorded, economic related saw figures reducing by half form 22 to 11 between July and August; break-ins, thefts and simple robberies reducing from 25 to 10, 89 to 51, and 8 to 5 respectively. Other uncategorized crimes reduced from 116 to 55 in those months.
ACP Chemusto attributes this positives to the increased level of surveillance in the region through the CCTV cameras that has been installed around town centers, daily foot patrols and aerial surveillance using choppers; positive involvement of the local leaders in the peace process and the use of canine dogs for follow ups on thefts and even detection of firearms.
Meanwhile, Brigadier General Joseph Balikudembe says the recent sharp reduction in crime in the region has been because of the introduction of the cordon and search operation that has led to the recoveries of 334 guns in just 4 months which is way more than the 212 recovered in the preceding 10 months.
The joint security forces have so far recovered 546 guns since the start of the operation surpassing the earlier profiled 500 in the region.
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