Ugandan Minister of Internal Affairs, Gen. JeJe Odongo has advised Regional Police Chiefs to always be ahead of criminals if they are to reduce crime.

This was during the opening ceremony of the Council of Ministers’ meeting at Khartoum, Sudan on Thursday (13th September, 2018)

“Crime is like a living organism; it’s dynamic and evolves with time and circumstances. The criminals are increasingly getting sophisticated in the manner they execute their evil intentions. This creates a big challenge to law enforcement officers and the implication is that for law enforcement officers to remain relevant, they must always plan ahead and attain higher levels of sophistication in order to contain criminals in order to contain the criminals,” Gen. Odongo said in a speech read for him by the Inspector General of Police, JM Okoth Ochola.

Gen. Odongo is the outgoing chair of the council of ministers.

The Minister said that in an ideal world, one would say that the best way to fight crime is not let it happen at all.

“Much as we may not be able to achieve this condition, it is equally important that we always keep crime at the lowest level possible,” he said.

Council of ministers of internal affairs meeting is very important as it provides opportunity to the various stake holders to get together, deliberate on issues affecting the region and share information regarding common crime with a view of getting solutions.

This implies that the ministers’ strategies to fight crime should address its root causes in addition to putting in place proactive approaches in its management.

Gen. Odongo said that the majority of crime is committed within and against the local communities. It is important to have visible police presence as deterrence to those who commit it. However, he added that, it’s not yet quite feasible in most of the region’s situations to have Police Officers almost everywhere.

“The way forward under this circumstance is too involve the community in maintaining their own security. In order to win the trust and confidence, of the local population. In addition, law enforcement officers should be able to adapt quickly tops the changing world of technology,” Gen. Odongo said.