The\nsteep rise in the number and audacity of daredevil Kampala city petty thieves\nhas attracted the concern of MPs, who now demand urgent government action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
MP\nThomas Tayebwa kicked off the debate during plenary on Wednesday, 2 October\n2019 with a narration of his ordeal with thieves, who at a traffic build-up in\nWandegeya, a city suburb, struggled to open his car door to pick his valuables.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When\nthey failed, said Tayebwa, they tried their luck on a hapless lady in front of\nhim, whose car door they opened and consequently snatched her bag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey\nhave targeted [road] intersections and cars in the traffic jam; someone tried\nto break into my car in Wandegeya opposite a police station in the city\ncentre,\u201d said Tayebwa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Internal\nAffairs State Minister, Mario Obiga Kania, condemned the practice, but earned\nthe wrath of MPs when he suggested that in the heat of the day-light robbery in\nclogged traffic, MPs and affected members of the public should report to Police.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThose\nare unfortunate incidences and when such things happen, it would be good to\nreport to the police station; even if it happens opposite a police station, it\ndoes not mean that we have people all around the area,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
MPs\nwere angered by the remarks, accusing the Minister and the Police, which he\nsupervises, for negligence and complicity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou\nare in traffic jam where you cannot move and they pounce on you, what do you\ndo? We want solutions, what do we do about it?\u201d asked Speaker Rebecca Kadaga,\nwho chaired the plenary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kadaga\nadvised Minister Obiga Kania to gather information from MPs, which she said\nshould inform a comprehensive statement to the House on steps taken to end the\npractice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
MP Agnes Kunihira is also a victim of the daring attacks, which mostly happen in traffic jams, day or night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
MP\nMoses Kasibante said there are known hotspots in Kampala where the criminals\nreign supreme, but the Police, he said, ignores such areas and fail to deploy\ncovert officers, which he said is neglectful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To\nMP Barnabas Tinkasiimire, it is an indictment on the failure of the highly\nbilled CCTV cameras installed around the city and its outskirts, with the aim\nof ending the criminality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLet\nus assemble the information, let us give it to the Minister and let him come\nwith a statement,\u201d ruled Speaker Kadaga, putting the matter to rest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The steep rise in the number and audacity of daredevil Kampala city petty thieves has attracted the concern of MPs, who now demand urgent government action. MP Thomas Tayebwa kicked off the debate during plenary on Wednesday, 2 October 2019 with a narration of his ordeal with thieves, who at a traffic build-up in Wandegeya, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27983,"featured_media":9647,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_paywall_metabox":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[98],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n