Why Uganda Police Need 5000 CCTV Cameras

With the introduction of Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) Cameras on major streets and highways entering and leaving Kampala City, criminals have resorted to operating within slum areas, where CCTV cameras are inadequate.

This was revealed to the media by Uganda Police Force (UPF) Senior Commissioner of Police (SCP) Yusuf Ssewanyana, on Thursday. He said UPF now needs a total of 5000 CCTV Cameras to monitor the movement of criminal gangs in slums and other congested areas around Kampala city.

SCP Ssewanyana, said the 3,323 CCTV cameras that were installed in Kampala Metropolitan (KMP) over three years ago are inadequate to spy on the activities of criminal gangs.

He says that the cameras are also unable to aid investigations of crimes committed by gangs in slum areas because they are only found on major roads and junctions.

“We need about 20,000 CCTV cameras to cover the entire country. KMP alone needs at least 5,000 more cameras in order to bridge the monitoring gap in highly populated areas”, he said.

He attributed the inadequacy of CCTV cameras to the emergence of criminal “blind spots”, where criminals continue robbing and terrorizing city dwellers.

Ssewanyana added that even the few CCTV cameras that were installed in KMP have been antagonized by road works like the Kampala flyover project.

“This has hampered the effective operation of the security cameras along Entebbe, Nsambya, and Mukwano roads”, he pointed out.

He stressed that security cameras were installed to work in a ring-like format, saying if one fiber is uprooted because of road construction; it affects about 40 other cameras.

“For instance, we had fiber that was uprooted around Fairway junction and this immediately disconnected Gulu City. We monitor the cameras from here (Naguru police headquarters) but one construction project may put off dozens of cameras”, he added.

Other factors that have hampered the effectiveness of the security cameras according to Ssewanyana, is the low power voltage in many areas of KMP and upcountry places. He stated there are areas whose maximum power voltage, according to electricity distributors, is 160 kilowatts.

“These cameras are on but they cannot pick the images because of insufficient power. We keep calling our personnel thinking cameras have issues only to realize it is a result of low voltage power,” Ssewanyana explained.

Fred Enanga, the UPF Spokesperson, earlier disclosed in a news conference, that intelligence-led operations had resulted in the arrest of suspected gang ringleaders in Kampala slum areas of Katale zone, Katwe-Kinyoro, and Nsambya Kevina.

According to police intelligence teams from Kabalagala and Katwe police divisions, the quartet was using a pistol without a magazine to threaten and intimidate their victims.

“We are aware of the danger and threats posed by criminal groups in our neighbourhoods. It is against this background, that we continue to conduct robust operations, to significantly disrupt their networks and attempts to create criminal sanctuaries, within the KMP suburbs,” Enanga added.