Murders: 114,000 guns are unregistered

About 113,660 guns are unregistered in Uganda, four years after President Museveni announced a 10-point security plan, which included finger-printing guns, to combat a spate of rising urban crime.

The high-level assassination of high-profile Ugandans by gunmen has continued, with the weekend killing of prominent vlogger Ibrahim Tusubira, also known as Isma Olaxess. The murder has reignited renewed public concern.

Although a gun finger-printing committee chaired by Assistant Inspector General of Police Edward Ochom, registered 57,000 guns, including those from the Uganda Police, Uganda Prisons, private security organizations, and individuals, there are still guns in the hands of the Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF), Special Forces Command (SFC), and the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence that are yet to be fingerprinted, The Observer has learned.

Ibrahim Tusubira, alias Isma Olaxess, was killed at the gate of his rented apartment in Kyanja, a Kampala suburb, on May 6, 2023.

“An unidentified gunman armed with an SMG opened fire on the vehicle, resulting in the fatal shooting of Tusubira Ibrahim,” a statement by Luke Owoyesigire, the deputy public relations officer for Kampala Metropolitan Police, read in part.

Submachine guns (SMG) are primarily the preserve of the elite counter-terrorism police, the special forces command, and commandos on special operations, according to a source within security circles who spoke anonymously. Although most Ugandan soldiers and security operatives wield Russian-made AK47 rifles, SMGs are considered special operations rifles.

Police spokesperson Fred Enanga announced on May 8, 2023, that a joint police team of investigators is following up on Olaxess’s murder. So far, three people have been arrested, according to Enanga. Police are using CCTV footage to track Olaxess’s itinerary from Munyonyo, where he played football on the fateful day, until he returned to his home in Kyanja.

Despite Museveni’s security plan to combat crime, violent crime persists in Uganda. For instance, in 2021, Works Minister Gen. Katumba Wamala lost his driver and daughter in an assassination attempt on his life, and armed assassins fled on motorcycles, just like in the case of Olaxess.

The 2022 annual crime report released by the Uganda Police showed that 38 guns with 705 live rounds of ammunition were stolen or robbed from security personnel, and of these, 30 guns and 545 rounds of ammunition were recovered.

On May 8, 2023, Museveni promised to trace and punish Olaxess’s killers in a lengthy tweet, adding that he had sent condolences to the family. He cited examples of past successes in bringing suspected killers to justice, such as the Bijambiya (panga wielding thugs) in Masaka and the Kiddawalime group.

Speaking anonymously, a security source said that although all security forces have access to all kinds of guns, submachine guns (SMG) are primarily the preserve of the elite counter- terrorism police, the special forces command, and commandos on special operations.

“An SMG is light, portable, and automatic (it can do rapid fire). It can also be operated with one arm and is lethal at close range,” the source added. He added that although most Ugandan soldiers and security operatives wield Russian-made AK47 rifles, SMGs remain special operations rifles.

Speaking to the media on Monday, May 8, 2023, Police Spokesperson Fred Enanga said, “We are continuing to gather evidence and interview witnesses to help determine the circumstances of the case. It was a targeted attack in which two assailants armed with one pistol emerged from a hideout near his gate. The armed assailant shot at close range at Olaxess in the passenger seat, killing him instantly. His driver, Waiswa Mathias, remained unscathed despite the bullets riddled in his side. He is still in our protective custody. (…) Our canine unit managed to trace the scent of the assailants to one of the main roads, where it is believed they boarded a motorcycle and fled. We recovered a glove, which we believe was dropped by the shooter.”

To aid with the investigations, Enanga said they had three people in custody. Following the shooting of the former Arua Municipality Member of Parliament, Ibrahim Abiriga, in June 2018, President Yoweri Museveni gave a detailed assessment of the country’s security situation in Parliament.

In his speech, Museveni laid out a 10-point security plan to combat crime. At the time, the country was grappling with
several other violent crimes, including armed robberies, kidnappings, and murders. He argued that upon implementation of the security plan, crime across the country would be wiped out.

Among the measures recommended by Museveni were the installation of closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in urban areas and highways, the use of police radio calls, the recruitment of Local Defence Unit (LDU) personnel, the introduction of electronic vehicle number plates, and purging the police of wrong elements. Museveni also recommended fingerprinting all guns, both government and private.

In December 2019, Police Spokesperson Fred Enanga informed journalists that 57,000 guns had been registered across the country by the gun finger-printing committee chaired by Assistant Inspector General of Police Edward Ochom.

According to Enanga, guns from the Uganda Police, Uganda Prisons, private security organizations, and individuals were registered, including those in the hands of the Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF), Special Forces Command (SFC), and the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence.

However, Gun Policy, a leading website for published evidence on armed violence, firearm law, and gun control, reported that the UPDF had approximately 116,660 firearms. Police, on the other hand, reported having 54000 firearms. But police officially say only 57,000 are registered nationwide.

This means approximately 113,660 guns remain unregistered. Although police have made several efforts to curb violent crime, the vice has persisted.

In 2021, Works Minister Gen. Katumba Wamala lost his driver and daughter in an assassination attempt on his life. In the 2022 annual crime report, Uganda Police reported that 38 guns with 705 live rounds of ammunition were stolen or robbed from security personnel.

Of these, 30 guns and 545 rounds of ammunition were recovered. In a lengthy tweet on May 8, 2023, Museveni promised to punish the killers. “I can assure Ugandans that this criminal will be traced and punished. Do you remember the Bijambiya in Masaka? Most of those suspected killers are in court today.

Do you remember the Kiddawalime group? Most of them are either dead or in prison. Kiddawalime himself was among the dead. I have sent ‘mataaba’ (condolence fee) to the family. The State House Comptroller will deliver it. Sympathy to the family of Isma. We stand with you, and we shall punish the killer,” Museveni’s tweet read in part.

Interviewed by journalist Simon Kaggwa Njala on Sunday, May 7, 2023, Gen. Kahinda Otafiire, the Minister of Internal Affairs, said, “The government has nothing to say about the spate of murders. We will not just say anything because the public is anxious. We need to first gather credible information, but again, you see, our officers are also overstretched.”

Kiwanuka Abdallah, the shadow minister for internal affairs, attributed the persistence of violent crime to the absence of motivation for investigating officers.

“Some of these high-level murders take huge sums of money to pull off. How do you expect a poorly motivated person to pull off such an investigation?” Kiwanuka cited the recent acquittal of murder suspects in the murder of former Buyende District Police Officer Muhammad Kirumira.

“Police officers in the cases had conjured up evidence instead of investigating the case to its logical conclusion. Our police officers are not trained and facilitated to match up with the growing demand for security in the country.”

Justice Margaret Mutonyi acquitted Abubaker Kalungi for the double murders of Kirumira and his friend, Resty Nalinya Mbabazi, after the prosecution failed to prove Kalungi’s participation in the murders that took place on September 8, 2018, in Bulenga Wakiso district.

Kiwanuka emphasized the need for the government of Uganda to make information relating to the number of people with registered guns public.

In March 2022, the Daily Monitor reported that approximately 1700 cameras around the country were not working. Of these, 900 cameras in Kampala Metropolitan, which combines the capital and the neighbouring districts of Wakiso and Mukono, do not work.

The government, through the Uganda Police Force, contracted Huawei Technologies (Uganda) Company Ltd. in 2018 to install the cameras countrywide.

The National CCTV Network Expansion Project that started in 2018 was bankrolled in part with a $104 million (Shs 364 billion) loan the government picked up from Standard Chartered Bank.

This followed the brutal assassinations of then-police spokesperson Andrew Felix Kaweesi and Arua Municipality Member of Parliament Ibrahim Abiriga. Assailants had earlier gunned down approximately a dozen Muslim clerics, including then-senior state prosecutor Joan Kagezi. Their deaths remain unresolved to date.