Uganda’s Justice Minister, retired military General Kahinda Otafiire, once famously advised us to leave matters of Generals to the Generals.

The public largely followed his advice, until the tragic March 17 assassination of the police spokesman, Assistant Inspector General of Police Andrew Felix Kaweesi, near his home in Kampala.

Now everybody has become a security expert and has a very strong opinion on how public security should be maintained. So we now have 40 million security experts, and your ageing scribe can only muse at the jinx in the digits 4 and 0 when it comes to Uganda’s security.

The top police commander – the equivalent of a General in the army – was a devout Catholic who was killed while observing the 40 days of Lent.

The commander-in-chief, General Yoweri Museveni, spoke at the vigil in the fallen commander’s home and said he had ordered the immediate procurement of security camera at a cost of Ush400,000,000,000.

General Museveni proceeded to blame the 400,000 “parasitic” public servants who put so much pressure on the national Treasury for their remuneration, which he revealed has now grown to Ush4,000,000,000,000 for the coming financial year.

He reminded these 400,000 public servants that they are only one per cent of the country’s population, now estimated at 40 million people.

The commander-in-chief also took a swipe at the mourning police force itself, with a strength of just over 40,000 men and women, saying they have been infiltrated by criminals and need to clean up fast.

The police’s job would be made much easier by the installation of the cameras, once the money is provided by 400 Members of Parliament who pass the national budget and oversee its implementation. The police needs to recruit another 40,000 officers to hit the international required ratio of one cop to 500 citizens.
Besides the police, the president asked people to be on the lookout for suspicious boda boda riders, for the deceased was shot multiple times by motorbike-riding assassins.

There are some 400,000 such motorbike taxis in the country. He advised motorists, especially those who are armed that when they find themselves being followed by suspicious boda boda riders, they should stop the car and sort the matter out.
Because the advice was subject to different interpretations, we now have some 400,000 apprehensive motor cyclists around the country.

All the same, we now expect about 40,000 cameras to be installed on the streets, highways and other public places.

This should help improve our security and help restore confidence after the Felix Kaweesi’s murder, which occurred almost exactly 40 years after the February 1977 murder of the first Ugandan inspector general of police, Erinayo Wilson Oryema.

Still the situation is not that bad, as the country is largely peaceful, reaping the fruits of the liberation war launched by Museveni on February 6, 1981, with his 40 comrades-in-arms.

This year the great day, known as Tarehe Sita on Uganda’s public calendar, was marked as usual by our security forces and exactly 40 days later, Kaweesi was assassinated.

But these deadly criminals will eventually be brought to book as we leave the matter in the hands of our Generals. After all, even Ali Baba’s 40 thieves are no longer alive, and as our Swahili-speaking brothers say, a criminal has only 40 days.

Joachim Buwembo is a social and political commentator based in Kampala. E-mail: [email protected]