President Museveni Tuesday banned police bond as he vowed to reactivate Local Defence Unit (LDU) personnel if petty crimes persist, especially in remote Uganda.
“I have raised the issue of bails with Chief Justice Alphonse Owiny-Dollo, and I have banned the issue of police bonds,” Museveni said while delivering a brief New Year address at his country home in Rwakitura.
Citing rampant petty crime, including livestock and coffee theft targeting rural farmers, Museveni said “firm legal handling of criminals is very useful.”
“Any police personnel that gives a police bond to a village thief when the case is ready for trial will be held accountable,” Museveni emphasized.
He added: “The handling of the village thieves legally but firmly is good for the villages—and also for the thieves themselves.”
Museveni called on Ugandan authorities to engage civilians in productive work to combat crime in the New Year 2025.
“On the marijuana smoking idle youths who steal coffee in the night… What are the RDCs doing? Why do they not engage the youths to direct their efforts towards honest work?”
“…How about the police? If the concerned authorities do not act, I will involve the UPDF to empower all the wealth creators and farmers to guard their property by activating the vast militia of our LDUs. It will not be good for those thieves,” he remarked on Tuesday.
Under the Ugandan law, police bond is free, and the constitution stipulates 48 hours within which a suspect should be taken to court or released on bond, pending investigations.
Leave a Reply