GUN VIOLENCE
"Gen Wamala Mutumba survived an assassination," one person wrote to me on WhatsApp at 6:30 am ET on Tuesday, June 1, 2021.
My social media feeds then flooded with gory images of a perpetually subdued and frightened General Mutumba Wamala. Another picture of his black SUV parked with blood running under it, suggesting fatalities. I then learned that Gen. Mutumba Wamala was attacked by gunmen while on his way to a funeral. That he had lost a daughter and a driver in that senseless violence.
Reflecting on this whole scene, I have raised concerns over the increasing proliferation of society with small arms and light weapons (SALW), which continues to undermine the security of persons and property.
This election year, the presence of small, light, and large firearms in the hands of civilians seemed to have peaked in previous election years. Overall, Ugandans are some of the most suppressed and unhealthy global citizens, constantly fearful of the state and gun violence - a social determinant of health!
The images of random people dressed in civilian clothes brandishing pistols, assault rifles, AK47 with other firearms, and acting lawlessly affirms that Uganda is either under a lawless society usurped by organized criminals or under a military dictatorship.
The extent of the problem is widespread as we see Uganda traders getting killed en route to the lucrative South Sudan market or in Kasese, Mbale, and so forth. Every Ugandan lives in utter fear and uncertainty, knowing well the pending tragedy of armed robbery or state-inspired drone kidnaps. It gives relevance to musician Ronald Mayinja’s epic song, “Bizeemu”, laments of Uganda returning to its darker days of state terror in the 70s and 80s.
Uganda developed policies and an action plan on SALW and yet the rapid rate at which guns are getting into the hands of assailants highlights the criminal nature of the state or its inability to subvert organized crime. Others go as far as observing that these senseless crimes and assassinations are state enterprises.
In trying to understand assassinations versus armed robbery or other forms of targeted gun-killings in Uganda, one must revisit concerns over possession of military stores.
Innocent youths are languishing in deplorable prison facilities and safe-houses on fictitious accounts of possessing military stores – meaning owning artifacts, objects, or items such as ammunition that the army has a monopoly on. However, the real assassins roam our streets unfettered.
Various reports indicate that the arms from police and military armory are finding their way into the hands of robbers. One such case was detailed in the Daily Monitor story of February 17, 2019, entitled: "why are criminals using UPDF, police guns to kill and rob?"
In that report, Police officials admitted that their guns get stolen often while the staff is reporting on duty. Herein lies the complicity in this gun crime if police officers have difficulties protecting their own weapons and accounting for it. For instance, the guns recovered in an armed robbery-murder case CRB 270/2018 registered at Bweyogerere Police Station were confirmed to belong to the army.
Ugandans generally avoid possessing guns or weapons and this trend has been consistent from Idi Amin era. It was the NRA's Kyaka mkyaka programs that strove to demystify the fear of guns, grenades, and probably even landmines among the Wanainchi, thereby raising the appetite for guns locally.
Not long ago we saw Mathew Kanyumunyu gun Akena down at Lugogo - an act that dented this nation’s conscience. To this day no one has explained the circumstances under which Kanyumunyu came to own a gun nor has he been held accountable for the possession and misuse.
The near-miss shooting of a decorated army General, Wamala Katumba, on Tuesday, June 1, 2021, seems like a sequel to the gruesome murder in cold blood of Arua Municipality MP, Abiriga. These patterned events have an everlasting shocking effect on the mind of ordinary Ugandans and enforce the pervasive sense of insecurity to person and property.
Ironically, Museveni who claims Uganda is so peaceful and vowed at inception never to preside over a country where insecurity is commonplace, has himself perpetuated and justified violence - and gun violence in particular.
I am raising this concern over small arms and light weapons proliferation in society because the existential threat is surreal and is growing rapidly. Uganda has entered a phase of exploitative and predatory socioeconomic relations. In stable and democratic nations, such phases are moderated with the state ceding more democratic rights and independent judicial systems for mediation. In Uganda, however, we see the opposite trend. The more predatory the relations of production, the more the state applies its hegemonic subduing force against the exploited. The place of violence in our society is firmly etched in its social, economic, and political processes.
There are many people postulating as to why Gen. Mutumba Wamala was targeted. One dominant narrative is that the General was interfering in mafia exploits. One thing is clear, with or without these street hypotheses, the assassins were professionals. Although they lacked the precision and finesse with which Kirumira, Kawesi, Kagezi, and Abiriga were diced, indeed, these gunmen were not amateurs.
The bigger question is, who are these highly specialized and precise assassins? Obviously, they are not ordinary irate civilians attempting to settle land disputes or business grievances. These were highly trained hitmen with a high level of sophistication. The nation should know before the next scene of murder because we no longer know who shouldn't possess weapons in this society.
END
