By Our Reporter
Aggrieved locals in Bukedea town council on Sunday boycotted a security meeting organized by the Resident District Commissioner (RDC) over rampant theft cases that have left many people counting losses.
The security meeting called by RDC Ramazathan Walugembe was aimed at identifying gaps that thieves who have broken into over 10 shops and several homes in the last two months, use.
Mr Walugembe said he was disappointed by the boycott.
“The essence of this meeting was to liaise with the people and have police work towards arresting suspects. Now that they have avoided this important meeting, how can we have the matter of insecurity solved?” he asked.
Mr. Walugembe said there is no way theft can be eradicated in Bukedea if the locals don’t cooperate with security agencies.
The area LC1 Emokori ward, Mr. Moses Okurut, said only 28 people attended the meeting out of possibly 1,000 in his ward.
“Over time, the locals have pointed fingers at the police for not acting accordingly on suspects involved in these robberies. To me, that was the cause of the boycott,” he explained.
He said two weeks ago, thugs broke into shops in the trading centre and took off with unspecified amounts of money.
However, Mr. Michael Etiang, one of the locals, said such meetings are of no value.
“All that is left is mob justice. When a thief is got in action, the solution is to eliminate him/her, and when we do this repeatedly, the numbers will reduce and we will secure our town,” he said.
Mr Etiang said in most cases, thieves are arrested but released from police custody before appearing in courts of law.
