The clashes in Amuru and Adjumani last week and distribution of leaflets threatening violence in parts of the country have, yet again, stirred uncertainty over Uganda’s security.

Coming for criticism in the clashes over land in the two districts — in which over five people were killed, scores injured, and hundreds displaced — is the police response, which was described as slow and indecisive.

Whereas police with the help of the army eventually stepped up security presence days later, no arrests have been made yet.

“The dispute over the border between Amuru and Adjumani has been going on since at least 2010. The efforts by government to resolve it through establishing new demarcations was resisted by people in Amuru who felt they were being deprived of their land,” said one political leader.

Land disputes across the country have been made worse by unknown people, who have been reported in urban centres killing people and distributing leaflets threatening further violence. The leaflets started in the greater Masaka area and pockets of Kampala outskirts, but have now reached Mubende and Tororo, where they hint at land.

There have also been murders of prominent persons, including Assistant Inspector General of Police Andrew Felix Kaweesi, and a spike in cases of rape, home break-ins and theft.

READ: Uganda police boss criticised over crime rate

This has spawned panic, which President Yoweri Museveni acknowledged during his State of the Nation Address on June 6 and moved to allay.

“The attempt by the criminals to cause rural scare by throwing leaflets, stealing vanilla from the gardens, occasional murders and rape, is easier to deal with because…Our massive security apparatus comprised of the police, the crime preventers and the UPDF can easily handle that village thuggery,” he added.

Reliance on UPDF

Some analysts say Museveni’s reliance on military might to deal with rising insecurity offers little hope. Neither is is it helpful to tackle those that underlie social and political uncertainties.

Part of the insecurity and lawlessness has been attributed to high levels of youth unemployment and uneven distribution of available opportunities — factors Museveni also acknowledged.

In his June 6 address, he expressly ordered the police to stop arresting people for being “idle and disorderly” simply because they lacked what to do. This order was affirmed by the deputy Inspector General of Police JM Okoth-Ochola in an internal circular he signed on June 13.

“The insecurity the government says it has dealt with is not the one Ugandans are confronted with of hunger, joblessness, inequality or massive dispossession of land that is going on all across the country. So, it is not how many guns you have or can unleash, it doesn’t address the current insecurity confronting the country,” said Norbert Mao, the leader of the Democratic Party, during a weekly political television talk show on June 8.

“The military solution that our political leaders through the years have adapted to the challenge of state formation and sustenance is one that is undesirable and, ultimately, unsustainable,” notes a newly published book, Militarism and the Dilemma of Postcolonial Statehood: The Case of Museveni’s Uganda.

According to its authors Busingye Kabumba, Dan Ngabirano and Timothy Kyepa, who teach law at Makerere University, “The silences – and distortions – that it creates, and which now characterise our collective consciousness and memory, do not bode well for the stability of the Uganda in which we variously find ourselves.”

To the authors, genuine peace needs to be assessed beyond the absence of war and lawlessness to considering social, economic and political issues.

“The majority of these cases are political, they are economic, and they are policy related. At worst, they are law and order issues. I don’t see how UPDF comes in as far as solving these problems,” said Godber Tumushabe, a policy analyst.

“He is trying to prescribe a military solution to political, economic and environmental problems. Those can only achieve short term solutions. I don’t see how we get out of this without pursuing a national dialogue process,” added Mr Tumushabe.

During the presentation of the national budget on June 8, both Museveni and Finance Minister, Matia Kasaija pushed back against extensive assessments about dimming prospects of the economy, insisting its fundamentals were still strong.