By Andrew Irumba
Kampala: The Uganda Police Force are erecting a structure worth over Shs2.5Bn, which will become the first Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) National Archive Centre in Uganda.
Police’s Chief Political Commissar Asan Kasingye said the archive centre, whose construction work is at 60 per cent so far, will also serve as the national CCTV monitoring centre, where footage from all cameras will be stored and processed.
Kasingye said that “The storeyed building will have officers monitoring all CCTV security cameras installed in Kampala City and other major towns like Masaka, Mbarara, Mbale, Gulu, Arua and Fort portal.”
He added that “The monitoring centre that was opened by President Yoweri Museveni, last year, will be retained as the control unit for the Kampala Metropolitan Policing Area.”
He also revealed that currently footage captured by CCTV cameras already installed in different parts of Kampala City is stored and released by archive centres that were set up during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in 2007.
Kasingye also noted that “National CCTV control centre will have a national archive. If something took place in Rubaga division and it happened last year, you will not go to Nateete. You will go to the CCTV National Archive Centre. It will also serve as the overall CCTV Forensic Centre.”
“Here we shall be monitoring all CCTV cameras, recording and archiving visuals that may be necessary for legal purposes. We are going to monitor whatever is happening in Kampala Metropolitan, major towns and highways. If something happens, you go assess or study the visual particularly to establish who was involved,” Kasingye said.
He added that the completion of the first phase of CCTV targeting Kampala City, Entebbe sub-district, Wakiso and Mukono district is at 80 per cent.
Kasingye revealed that monitoring have been set up in Nateete, Kawempe, Wakiso and Mukono. The installed cameras purposely cover activities on streets, expressways and other major roads with KMP. The third phase will be highways like Gulu, Hoima and Fort portal.
