Henry Mukasa and Francis Kagolo
30 November 2008
Kampala — HARDCORE criminals, commonly known as iron-bar hitmen, who have terrorised urban centres, will be dealt with decisively, the President said yesterday.
The law, President Yoweri Museveni added, should be amended so that such murderers are not bailed to stop them continuing with their crimes.
The criminals who often ambush victims, hit them on the head with iron-bars before robbing them of valuables, will be tackled the way Operation Wembley handled armed car robbers a few years back, he said.
Operation Wembley was headed by Brig. Elly Kayanja and was replaced with the current Rapid Response Unit.
Speaking at a rally at Lwadda in Gombe sub-county, in support of the NRM candidate in the Kyadondo north by-election, Robert Kasule Ssebunya. Museveni said only his party understood the country's problem.
"I hear there are people killing others with butayimbwa (iron bars)," he said. "We shall get them. You know how the Movement works."
Singling out Maganjo and Kagoma as the most notorious areas for butayimbwa thuggery, Museveni said the law must be tightened but warned the opposition in Parliament could frustrate this effort.
"A person who kills should not get bail," he said.
"If I bring that proposal, the MPs in Kampala will oppose it. Ssebuliba Mutumba you voted in Kawempe will oppose that proposal."
Mutumba is a Democratic Party MP. But, Museveni said, Kasule, like his late father Kibirige Ssebunya, would cooperate with the Government to implement reforms.
"It is self-defeating to elect an MP who will not be of use to you. If you vote Bakitte (the DP candidate), she will oppose my proposals in Parliament," Museveni warned.
"If you vote for Kasule, you will make my work in Parliament easy."
He said because of the weaknesses in civilian courts which grant bail to hard-core criminals, a clause was put in the UPDF Act so that people who use guns illegally are charged in military court.
He said unfortunately, the hitmen could not be charged in the court martial because iron bars are not considered to be guns. "However, although iron bars are not guns, they kill people. We do not joke in the court martial," Museveni emphasised.
Kasule's father, Ssebunya Kibirige, was the state minister for agriculture and passed away recently. There had been reports that Kasule neglected him. "This is idle talk," Kasule said. "The Government treated the expert (Ssebunya) and we are grateful."
Kasule asked Museveni to ensure that votes are not stolen on the election day on December 4. He told his supporters not to contemplate rigging because he was assured of victory.
The main contenders in the race are Pollyne Nakabuye (FDC), Regina Bakitte (DP), Kasule Ssebunya (NRM) and Ssentamu Mukasa Ssewandage (the People's Progressive Party).
Museveni described DP as full of cowards. "DP has been abandoned by many people," he said. "Do not take them seriously." "Now I hear they are talking about the Kabakaship," Museveni said. "Who reinstated Mengo (the seat of Buganda kingdom)? It was the Movement."
He said the parties must be assessed on the basis of their track record. "When a snail moves, it leaves a trail but what do you see behind DP?" he asked. "It is 52 years of DP but what have they done?" He likened DP to lazy hunters who, when an animal dies of natural illness, claim that they have hunted it down.
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