Landlords told to install, integrate CCTVs to National Command Centre

By Ben Musanje

27^th Dec 2022

The Deputy Inspector General of Police, Maj Gen Geoffrey Katsigazi Tumusiime has started engaging urban authorities to compel landlords to install Closed-Circuit Television -CCTV cameras on their premises.

He says the installation of CCTVs in private premises and connecting them to the Nagura-Police headquarters-based National CCTV Command Centre will result in wider security coverage.

Gen Tumusiime cites an example of residents of Muyenga who have allowed their private CCTVs to be connected to the National CCTV Command Centre, to improve on their own security and the community.

Paul Senoga, an Information and Communication Technology-ICT expert, says connecting private CCTVs to the National CCTV Command Centre isn’t a bad idea but the past experience where security agencies have been accused of tapping into people’s conversations without authorization scares many even when the objective is beneficial to all.

Najib Kasule, a human rights lawyer says that the police should make sure there is consent, or else people will reject the move while others might choose legal action against ordinances passed by urban authorities.

Yusuf Ssewanyana, the ICT director of the Uganda Police Force, says there is nothing to worry about when it comes to CCTV connections because people are in a world where there is someone watching and monitoring whatever they do. Ssewanyana explains that the digital footprint for whatever a person does is important in policing.

CCTV cameras, according to Senoga work in a chain, meaning one camera might not do the necessary work. CCTV cameras cost between Shillings 100,000 and Millions of Shillings depending on the type and set one needs. Police have erected more than 5000 CCTVs mostly in urban areas. Of these, 3323 are in the Kampala Metropolitan area that covers Kampala City, Wakiso, and Mukono districts.