In the wake of the terrorist attacks that rocked Kampala and its suburb on the night of July 11, 2010, a huge debate about the security fate of our country has been stirred across the country.

Across section of people are already up- in -arms; imploring government to remove the  Ugandan  Peace keeping troops  from Somali lest the alleged assailants-Al-Shabaab- launch another fatal attack on us.

There're also those who are bitter that government hid important information regarding warnings that were reportedly made to Uganda's security agencies about an impending attack.

This has led many to question the judgement of those in charge of our security.
But this is a futile blame game whose only benefit is to enlist more bitterness and defensiveness from both the government and its nationals respectively.

The best way forward here is for us to be practical and begin to police each other.
We need to be very keen about where we go; who we hang out with and more so, probe the baggage that is dropped in our neighbourhoods and workplaces.

It is evident from those brutal bomb attacks that claimed dear lives that fateful evening that the perpetuators targeted congested areas where the public's last priority was their security.

It is also more probable that they used no stranger, but a regular young man/ woman whom anyone would least expect to carry out such a grisly act.

Perhaps, if the owners of the entertainment places as well as the revellers that met their death on July 11th had been more watchful and alert about the baggage that had been sneaked into the Rugby Club and Ethiopian Village in Kabalagala, may be they might have been able to detect the bombs before they could cause death.

 Well, there's that uncontested argument that the Police needs to beef up its security, but this should only come to supplement to our initiative. Compare a paltry police force of 20,000 men guarding a population of 34 million Ugandans. This is a ridiculous comparison and for this reason it cannot yield any fruition.

And as we moan the loss of our beloved ones, we need not get overwhelmed by grief, but instead find the strength to move on positively by making sure that security is a shared responsibility.

While state security agencies may come in once in a while, they cannot be everywhere. Our vigilance can go a long way in averting such savagery acts that are only unique to heartless rogues; the terrorists.

Ssentamu Charles Kampala

Don't politicize bomb attacks

I have listened with keen interest to what some opposition politicians say in relation to the bomb attacks and all I can say is that Besigye and Co. just want to make political capital out of the whole incident. In such nasty incidents, it is quicker and safer to blame government.

The argument that al-shabaab forewarned government doesn't hold water. We are living in days of modern terrorism and however much you take precautionary measures against the terrorists, they will always strike if they are determined to strike.

The terrorists warned America that they would strike them and I don't think the Pentagon took this warning lying low. They must have done whatever was in their means to avert the terror threat but it happened all the same. Government has tried very much to ensure security and safety of her citizens.

During the rampant bomb attacks in 1998-2000 being executed by the ADF, government moved in quickly to smoother the damn rebels and from that time until July 11, we have enjoyed peace and security. So this is no time to politicize the al-shabaab terror but support government to rid the country of terror.

Stephen Okiror Kampala

Let the k'jong warriors join the JAT

A modest means of stoning two terrorists at once is the same as the adage of using a thief to catch a thief. If the government feels that the Karamajong warriors are too obstinate to surrendering their guns and with a record of being too militant, we can use the same force with its arms and zeal to track down the terrorists that are giving Uganda sleepless nights.

This will keep them occupied in their game and also resting Ugandans from trepidation of terrorist coalition formed by them. If they joined the JAT, the government enjoys a cut cost in training facility since these warriors have their experience already, and which experience can be shared as other techniques of offence and defence.

We have all resources in Uganda, only that sometimes we don't know how to apply them respectively.

Joseph Kamugisha
Kampala
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