Thieves use the darkness to intercept, steal, and kill locals during peak hours of the night.
Community members in Tebuyoleka, Bwaise II parish, Kawempe division, find it difficult to navigate through corridors that they use when going about their daily activities. According to Mr Bwogezi Wilberforce (LC 1 Tebuyoleka zone), parents find it difficult to take their children for evening preparations at the school that is nearby adding that the gangsters’ wrath has been felt most by women and young girls. “These are ruthless gangs that will simply come up behind you and hit you with an iron bar. On many occasions, I’ve received complaints about abuse and people using these areas as dumping grounds for garbage. Students in the surrounding area have also been robbed of their school fees by these robbers at one point. These locations are extremely hazardous”. He said.
The Safe and Inclusive programme aided young men and women in coming up with the idea of installing solar lights in collaboration with community members both in the dark spots of Tebuyoleka and Mugowa zones.
According to Mr Bwogezi, LC 1 of Tebuyoleka District, the locations are now illuminated and protected, as opposed to when no lights were installed. “People can now move freely at night. At first, we were worried that robbers would break in and vandalise the lights that had been mounted, but it never happened, they have simply moved to other areas.
According to Mr Bwogezi, the local council has never received a report since the lights were installed in these locations. According to what we’ve heard, the robbers are working in places far away from our zone. “Parents now travel openly with children for evening preps,” said Mr Sebugwawo Abdul, a school official at Little Stars Nursery and Primary School.
