President Yoweri Museveni this afternoon addressed Parliament about the state of security in the country outlining ambitious ways in which his government is going to fight the rampant crime that has skyrocked in the recent past.
Museveni who was reappearing before Parliament in a period of less than a week revealed that the government is bent on forcing motorists to install electronic number plates on every car and motorcycle with traceable electronic signals that will show where one is at all times.
In addition to CCTV cameras that will be installed on major highways, streets and towns, Museveni intimated that the National Security Committee headed by the Director Civil Aviation authority has approved the use of Unmanned Air Vehicles (drones) to navigate traffic and access crime scenes as soon as police is notified.
“This, in addition to the revival of the 999 hotline will boost the speed of response to reported crimes since the Police Frying Squad is rendered helpless by the traffic jam. The flying squad now is crawling”
The police forensic laboratories will upgrade to have the capacity to analyse DNA samples such as blood, sweat, saliva, hair and others and cross-reference them with the samples the government will take from every individual so as to pinpoint with accuracy the criminals and quickly apprehend them.
The government is also set to acquire social media surveillance technology in order to trace and cause for arrest, users who misuse the platforms to promote hate, propaganda and panic among the population even if they use pseudo names. This will be in addition to motor scanners that will be used by the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) to search trailers that come from outside the borders for guns, bombs and other devices likely to put the security of the country at stake.
“We have already impounded over 500 UAVs (drones) at the borders from someone who wants to spy on people. We have only approved the use of 30 private UAVs. The rest shall be tracked by radder and shot down if the owners fly them without permission,” Museveni added.
