Abiriga will not be part of those attending the 2019 State of the Nation Address, set to be delivered by President Yoweri Museveni today at the International Conference Centre, Kampala Serena Hotel.
He was shot dead, together with his bodyguard, in Kawanda on the Kampala-Gulu highway on June 8 as he returned home aboard his yellow Volkswagen. Abiriga’s gruesome assassination followed a vow by President Yoweri Museveni in a subsequent National Budget Speech and a special address to Parliament that, not only will the lawmakers’ murderers be brought to book, but comprehensive measures will as well be taken to plug the loopholes in the country’s security system.
However, by the end of last year, the Inspector General of Police, Martin Okoth Ochola had admitted before a Parliament committee that four months since the killing had happened, no suspect had been arrested in connection with the murder of Abiriga.
Now, the MPs want President Museveni in his State of the Nation Address to put high on his agenda, updating the country on the progress made by the Government to curtail spates of insecurity, including the unresolved high profile murders, like that of Abiriga.
In a telephone interview with Government Newspaper New vision, the Kyankwanzi District Woman MP, Ann Maria Nankabirwa, said: “Since the President uses the platform to reflect on the year ending and the year to come, against the pledges and commitments made by the Government, this would be the right time to tell us about how security concerns are being handled, especially when our colleague, Abiriga, was killed, but he is yet to receive justice.”
Her desires are shared by Simeo Nsubuga (Kassanda South MP), who wants issues of internal security addressed beyond high profile murders to include crimes, such as the rampant armed robbery taking the lives of innocent business people.
In his state of security address to Parliament last year, Museveni rolled out a nine-point strategy, which he said will be employed in defeating crime. Nandala Mafabi (Budadiri West) said: “The President should be able to account for how he has utilized the national resources allocated in the budget and also explain the cause of untamed corruption, insecurity and why he is fighting the growth of political parties, especially those opposed to him.”
The key measures included installation of Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) on all major highways, towns, trading centers, at homes and business premises, deploying of Local Defense Units (LDUs) in Kampala, Wakiso and Mukono, revival of the 999 Police emergency number, tightening the scrutiny of social media and fingerprinting all legal guns in the country.
Others were acquiring of electronic number plates for all automobiles, use of illuminated helmets by cyclists, modernizing of the Government Analytical Laboratory to create a DNA bank for scientific resolution of crime and revival of the Police Flying Squad, quick coordination with the Police for rapid response and prioritizing public intelligence to gather information.