From: Leo Odera Omolo
Date: Tue, Oct 27, 2009 at 1:08 AM
Writes Leo Odera Omolo.
STRINGENT security measures have been put in place in Kampala and its environs, to ensure the safety of its residents against possible attack by Somali insurgents, who last week issued threats and vowed to attack Uganda capital in revenge.
Security has been beefed iup n Kisenyi, a Kampala suburb with the biggest Somali population, following threats by the al -Shabaab Islamist to attack Kampala..
And the leaders of the Somalis immigrant residents have vowed to identify and arrest any infiltrator from Somali. They have launched registration of all Somalis immigrant living in Uganda in collaboration with the security agencies of the Uganda government.
A joint force from the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence {CMI}, the Joint Anti Terrorists Squad {JAAT}, and the Internal Security Organization{ ISO} have put in place a twenty four hour state of alerts,and deployed in key places.
The NEWVISION yesterday quoted Lt Timothy Tumusime, the civic-military relations officer as saying “We are not taking these threats lightly, that is why we are beefing up security. We shall, as promised by President Museveni, repulse any attack by the insurgents.”
“All the Muslim Mosques throughout Uganda and other possible targets have been put under twenty four hour security surveillance. “said Mr. Tumusime.
Lt. Tumusime made these remarks while addressing a security meeting attended by leading Somalis immigrant leaders and clan elders living in Kisenyi suburb last Sunday. He urged the Somali clan leaders to report any suspicious character to the authorities immediately.
The hardliner al-Shabaab insurgents last week vowed to strike the capitals Uganda and Burundi in revenge for alleged rocket attacks, that killed at least 30 people in Mogadishu last Thursday.
The reported attack coincided with the departure of President Sheikh Shariff Ahmed as he and his entourage were boarding a plane that took them to Uganda for the African Union summit on refugees, displaced persons and returnees in Africa, which was held in Kampala last week.
The Somalis elders, some of them who fought in the Somalia’s past wars warned al Shabaab agents not to attack Kampala. ”Those threats won’t work. We shall identify them and hand them over to security authorities. The al Shabaab will use none of us to cause mayhem”, said Hussein Hassan, the chairperson of the Somalis community in Kampala.
“I am glad that you are now more united. It will be very easy for you to fight a common enemy,” Mr. Tumusime added.
Following last week’s threats, a country wide registration of all Somalis living in Uganda had started. It is meant to identify any new arrivals. ”We are registering all Somalis with help of security agencies and we are issuing them with special identification cards. Any Somali who doesn’t register with us and is arrested by Ugandan security agencies should not blame us nor complain, “said Mr Hassan..
The over 30 Somali elders vowed to crush any militant who infiltrates Kisenyi suburb.
“We run away from the war torn country and left them there. We are now living in peace. We are ready to die for peace”, said Mr Robble Abdulayi, the deputy chair person of the Somali Community in Kampala.
Mr.Abdulayi urged Ugandan security agencies to use the Somalis at the various border and airports entry points to assist in identifying the insurgents. “It is us the Somalis who know these people. Most of them do penetrate and accesses the country through the various porous border at Busia and Malaba, all situated on the Kenya-Uganda border. Use us to track these terrorists down”, said Mr. Abdulayi..
President Museveni last Friday warned the Islamists rebels against attacking Uganda. “I would advise the Somalis who know these people well to urge them to concentrate in solving their own problems. If they decide to attack us, they will pay heavily”, he told journalists at the end of the AU summit in Kampala.
President Museveni warned that Uganda peacekeepers based in Somalia would attack the rebels if they acted on their threats.
The rebel groups, which want to topple the Somali Transitional Government headed by President Sheikh Shariff Ahmed, to impose its own strict version of Islamic law, is accused of being Al-Qaeda proxy. The rebels last week executed two young men for breaking Islamic sharia laws. The men were executed in public in an area of Mogadishu which is under the control of the al Shabaab insurgents.
Uganda and Burundi have about 5,000 peacekeepers in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, as part of the African Union force, dubbed AMISOM, as part of its planned strength of 8,000.
“We expect our African brothers to complete the deployment of additional 2,800 in the coming two months. There are countries that had indicated that they will be sending peacekeepers and are now being trained by UN”, the Somalis Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ali Sana Ahmed, told international news agencies in a separate interview in Kampala on Sunday.
Ends
leooderaomolo@yahoo.com
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Subject: SECURITY THREATS SCARED UGANDA NOW TAKES PRECAUTIONS AGAINST SOMALI INSURGENTS WHO HAVE VOWED TO ATTACK KAMPALA AND BUJUMBURA.