How secure are we?

News

How secure are we?

Written by Sunrise Reporters Friday, 30 July 2010 07:40

The aftermath of the 7/11 twin bombings in Kampala is understandably characterised by a state of paranoia which has made it necessary to mount numerous check-points at almost every entry point at public places and buildings in and around the city.

In light of all this, the commonly asked question by many security- conscious persons, who have gone through several of these check points is, how effective is the checking system in countering a possible repeat of the infamous incident, or, alas, a worse one, God forbid!

In an effort to address this pertinent question, last week I embarked on a fact-finding mission (as an undercover reporter) which involved visits to a flurry of these check-points and below are my findings and experiences:
Monday 11:00 a.m. I pulled up at one prominent Kampala hotel (whose name I am not at liberty to reveal) while in the company of a security agent who was in possession of a fire arm.

We stopped at the security check-point where we were handed a book to register details about ourselves and the vehicle we were traveling in.

Without asking for our identity cards to corroborate the information we were recording in the book, the security officer just looked on with his arms akimbo without any suspicion that we could be writing down wrong information about ourselves, which we actually successfully did!

Our second shock was that contrary to our expectation that the security guard was going to walk up to our vehicle and have it thoroughly searched for possible arms or explosives, we were only ushered in, parked our vehicle and allowed to proceed straight to the lobby where we were told to put our belongings on the table before we could go through the metal detector. After going through, we picked our belongings and moved on, notwithstanding the fact that these could have been bombs themselves!

Pretending to head for one of the offices within the precinct of this magnificent edifice, we moved up one corridor and turned to our right before we joined another on our way out, after accosting the head of security for exposing the occupants of the building to such a grave security lapse which could cost hundreds of lives. The officer, however, was quick to apologise for this oversight and promised to do better in the future.

Haunted by a suspicion that similar lapses could be abounding in similar public places, I couldn't help asking scores of friends, by way of a mini research, how managements in different buildings in their work places across town are coping up with the new security tempo.

My results were equally shocking!
Foremost, I was made to understand that nearly all public buildings with the exception of Bank of Uganda and Civil Aviation Authority in Entebbe, housing the cream of Uganda's society, continue to conduct their businesses as usual with no serious adjustments to ward off wrong elements in case a bad day struck.

"It has always bothered me to death why security personnel controlling access to countless city buildings fail to attach value to data being captured into the record books they are paid to keep, on top of other security basics before they are deployed," said Moses Buyondo one of the business men renting office space at Kalungi towers.

"It's only common sense that if they don't use IDs to ensure the authenticity of the information being entered, they are bound to get wrong data that can never be of any use in tracking criminal elements if they infiltrated their systems; and therefore defeating the whole purpose for employing them," Moses continued.

Worse still, I have also learnt that the access control measures instituted around the two Kampala taxi parks are not doing any better either.
The first time I learnt that there were check-points at entry points into the new park, for instance, was last week when I boarded a Kampala - Busunju taxi for my usual weekly visit to my arable farm.

I never got the slightest hint that any checking was going on even when I passed the entrance comfortably with my luggage, albeit rushing to shove for a front seat in the taxi that was to take-off in a few minutes.

A gentleman seated next to me complained about one security man who had checked him on his way to the park. "You mean you passed-by some check points before you entered the park?" I wondered. "How is it possible that I passed with my luggage hardly seeing any man stopping me for a check?!" I continued in dismay.

I later learnt, in the course of this mission, that while some security personnel around the twin taxi parks are so lax that they let in some people slip in unchecked, some of the numerous entry points (especially the minor ones) into the parks continue being un manned, and are, therefore, possible conduits for any wrong elements that would want to access these most populous centres of the city, regardless of the content of their luggage- harmful or otherwise.

I became even more paranoid following the recent presidential announcement waving taxation on all metal detectors (used for checking), that some fake metal detectors are likely to hit the market, making it arguably one of the most lucrative businesses around town since it has already began attracting tycoons to partake of the share.

I shudder, if that happened, how many lethal objects (call them explosives or bombs ) would be let in, to the detriment of many lives, given the growing security threat continuing to hang over Ugandans particularly if the existing numerous security lapses in public places- as per my investigation- continue unabated?

Later on, I called up Police Spokesperson Judith Nabakooba to seek her comment on the level of our security in public places, and all she could say was that it's the duty of the general public to work hand in hand with police and other security agencies to report such security oversights on the part of the security personnel.

With security personnel just running metal detectors around our bodies for the sake of it, I wonder whether our security is guaranteed.