The Internal Affairs State Minister, Obiga Kania told the house during plenary all the 3,233 cameras will be installed by August this year. He however, observed 446 of the 1756 cameras are nonfunctional because of power issues.
Parliament has approved a loan request from
government to borrow US$ million approximately Shillings 380 billion for
the second phase of the National Closed Circuit Television- CCTV Network.
Government will secure the funding from Standard Chartered Bank.
Government will service the loan within 9 years. The three year CCTV project started last year.
At least 1756
out of the planned 3233 cameras have already been installed in Kampala
Metropolitan area.
The Internal Affairs State Minister, Obiga Kania told the house during plenary all the 3,233 cameras will be
installed by August this year.
He however, observed 446 of the 1756 cameras are
nonfunctional because of power issues.
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He boasted that the installation of the cameras in Kampala has
registered some positive results especially in curbing petty theft and crimes.
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While defending the loan request, David Bahati, the State
Minister for Planning said they opted for Standard
Chartered Bank because World Bank and Exim Banks of China don’t usually finance
such projects.
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Chartered Bank.”//
Syda Bbumba, the Chairperson of the Committee
of the National Economy, which processed and approved the loan, said while
the project is timely for managing law and order, the installed
cameras many not be sufficient to cover all crime prone areas.
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A group of legislators including the Kawempe North MP Latif
Ssebagala, Rukungiri Woman MP, Bamukwatsa Betty, Erute South MP, Jonathan Odur
and Mpigi Woman MP, Sarah Nakawunde asked government to ensure there is a
sustainability plan and maintenance of the cameras.
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The Kalungu West MP, Joseph Gonzaga Ssewungu asked government
also to fast track the installation of
the cameras in rural areas and procure more sniffer dogs to curb crime in areas
that don’t have power.
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According to the 2017 Annual
Crime Report, Uganda Police Force investigates an average of 100,000
cases per year. At least Shillings 5 million is spent on investigating one
criminal case.
Police expects the cost to drop to Shillings 2
million with the installation of the cameras. With this projection, the country
is expected to save over Shillings 200 billion every financial year.
Obiga says police will not rely entirely on the
cameras to curb crime. The CCTV project was one of the 23
presidential directives to control and fight crimes through scientific policing
methods.
The project is expected to cost USD124.49
million. 68.9 percent of the total funds will be spent on project
implementation in Kampala Metropolitan area, 30 percent on Highways,
municipalities, major towns, while 1 percent will cover management costs.
In May 2018, government signed a contract worth US$120
Million approximately Shillings 452 billion with Ms. Huawei Technologies
(Uganda) Co to provide goods and services relating to the Uganda Safe City CCTV
System, AFIS and DNA Project.
Joan Akello
Freelancer