The Curse of a City: Goons and Insecurity
Emmy Daniel Ojara
The pressure of mounting insecurity within Gulu City to-be has dramatically sent leaders and security officers into panic and fighting each other.
Street gangs described as ‘’Aguu’’ in an idiomatic Acholi dialect has terrorized the major streets of Gulu, first their prey was the business community and revelers who trek night long doing their different wishes.
But in a rather unpredictable twist, the ‘’Aguu’’ has turned to hunt for local leaders within the vividly city like town. In June this year Jino Otti a local chairperson for Industrial area in Layibi Division nearly had his head chopped off by the gangs.
Not so late in the night but rather close to day fall at around 20:00 hours armed security personnels composed of police and the army wrestled with the goons to restore sanity at Industrial area and rescue the business community.
The group of young boys aged not above 25 years and over one hundred in numbers armed with pangas, machetes, metallic bars, housebreaking equipment and clubs stormed Industrial area chanting for the blood of Jino Otti and his executives.
The group formed in a militia-like executed havocs on roadside businesses along Ring Road, Gulu`s major road constructed under World Bank`s Project of the Uganda Support to Municipal for Infrastructural Development-USMID. The road has several bright street lights at all ends and one could be identified even from a distance.
They later progressed to the office of Jino which is along the road and destroyed all office documents. They vocalized that the area local authorities had wreaked war against them by forming a local vigilante group which punished them in a bid to curb insecurity in the area.
The curfew lasted over an hour and half until armed security personnels thronged the scene and fired live bullets to rescue the situation, 23 of them were arrested and taken to Gulu Central Police Station and later remanded to Gulu Central Prison by Gulu magistrate court.
Police says the arrest was one step to contain insecurity in the upcoming city, Patrick Jimmy Okema the Aswa river region police spokesperson quoted that routine night patrols were being conducted to execute more arrests.
23 Gulu Youth Charged With Conspiracy to Commit Felony, Threatening Violence
But the environment for leadership in the upcoming city has seemingly become difficult since the hunter has become the hunted.
The local leaders say they are in deep fear for their lives and family members so they are seeking security protection at their homes now that they have become targets of attack by the goons.
Police record indicates several cases of housebreaking, highway robberies, substance abuse, murder and theft within Gulu municipality. This has been witnessed by the murder of former Gulu Municipal deputy town clerk John Oola, former Gulu University lecturer Andrew Rachkara and several attacks on media personalities.
Looking back at Uganda`s Capital City, Kampala, government, civil society, security and human right bodies have in vain sought to get rid of street kids (goons at a later stage) from the city streets but no effort has yielded fruit.
Crimes continue to be witnessed in the city yet in the rural setting such scenes were scarce. The question of the day now becomes that are the new municipalities elevated to city statuses ready for the city curse????
Before his dropping as Inspector General of Police, Gen. Kale Kayihura camped in Gulu town to tighten security following increased attacks by iron bar wielding men but nothing changed in the long run.
……..Ends