Uganda’s president Yoweri Museveni has told his countrymen it is time to consider capturing of palm prints and DNA records in order to eliminate crime.
The president also directed that authorities halt the unregulated sale of mobile phone SIMcards and install CCTV cameras in urban areas ‘in the next few months’.
Museveni made the directives following the kidnap and brutal murder of 28 year old Susan Magara whose body was dumped in Kigo, a suburb of the capital, Kampala, that is along the newly constructed Kampala-Entebbe expressway.
DNA records of everybody are good to compare with blood samples, sweat, sperm etc found at the scene of crime. Palm-prints are better than thumb prints because the criminal may leave the palm-print and not thumb print.
The president who has previously called for the installation of cameras in urban areas as a measure to counter crime, believes that is this had been done, whoever dumped Magara’s body could have been identified.
Police in Uganda have put in place a reward of 100 million Uganda shillings for anyone with clues that might lead to the identification, arrest and conviction of the kidnappers.
The police released an audio clip of the kidnappers demanding ransom from Magara’s family. The family says the kidnappers made several calls using unregistered simcards, thus the president’s directives to check unregulated sale of mobile simcards.
Cabinet yesterday directed the regulator to investigate all telecom companies with unregistered simcards and report back in 14 days.
In May last year, Ugandans were ordered to have their sim cards registered using the electronic National identity cards or risk disconnection, following the gruesome murder of the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Andrew Felix Kaweesi.
However, nearly a later later, security agencies are grappling with a new wave of murders, kidnaps and fleecing of money, where criminals use unregistered simcards to coordinate their operations.
The president said while some people argue that such a move would be undemocratic, he would pursue it ‘in order to eliminate these criminals’.
‘‘DNA records of everybody are good to compare with blood samples, sweat, sperm etc found at the scene of crime. Palm-prints are better than thumb prints because the criminal may leave the palm-print and not thumb print,’‘ Museveni said.
