Herbert Ssempogo
5 December 2007
Kampala — A BODA BODA cyclist knocked a pedestrian on the Entebbe-Kampala highway but he just accelerated, leaving the hapless person sprawled on the tarmac.
Little did he know that the sh1.8b Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) system had recorded him. He was arrested when the Police in Kampala alerted their colleagues deployed on the road.
In another incident, two taxis, which had parked at the Kabalagala-Muyenga junction in Kampala with no regard for traffic regulations, were towed away when officers at the control centre at the Police headquarters saw them.
These were some of the incidents the Police narrated to journalists as they refuted allegations that the system had crashed on November 19, two days before the Queen arrived for the Commonwealth meeting.
The Police spokesperson, Asan Kasingye, showed the press footage shot in Kampala at night and in Entebbe at 7:00am on the day the machines are alleged to have crashed.
Journalists were also shown footage captured during the Queen's arrival in Kampala. The system has 50 surveillance cameras installed by Ssekanyolya Systems in Kampala and Entebbe. The control centre has three giant monitors, which are partitioned to show footage from the cameras. There are also 11 computer units that officials use to analyse the footage.
Flanked by acting commissioner for communications, Paul Nasimolo, Kasingye said the cameras were meant to boost the other methods of deterring crime.
"We are in an era where technology can be used to investigate and deter crime. Gone are the days when you had to deploy hundreds of Police officers in an area."
Nasimolo said MTN, a mobile phone company, relays the footage to the control centre, adding that the Police would soon switch to the government fiber optic line being laid by a Chinese company.
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