Gen Busizoori: Justice System Affecting Fights Against Gulu Street Gangs

Maj. Gen. Felix Busizoori, commander of the Fourth Infantry Division, has admitted that the army cannot fully control the growing criminal gang network in Gulu City, citing a “vicious circle” in the justice system that often sees suspects quickly returned to the streets.

Gen. Busizoori said that although Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) soldiers have been supporting police through joint night patrols and arrests, their efforts are often frustrated when suspects are released shortly after being charged.

“We do conduct patrols with the police. We arrest some, but the biggest challenge is in court. They are taken to court and sentenced to communal labour; that very day, they go back to the community, so it’s just like a vicious circle,” said Gen Busizoori. According to the commander, many of the suspects serve only a few days before returning to their neighborhoods, making it difficult for security forces to dismantle criminal networks.

“Somebody spends two days, and he is back home. It becomes very hard for the soldiers to fully work them out,” Gen Busizoori told Uganda Network in an interview. The commander’s remarks follow recent retaliatory attacks carried out by suspected criminal gangs along Cemetery Road in the Lajkë-Paçë Division. The violence erupted after one of the gang members was allegedly stabbed to death by a chapati vendor in the early hours of Sunday morning.

In retaliation, the gang reportedly injured two people, set ablaze four shops, and destroyed chapati stalls belonging to members of the non-Acholi community, heightening tensions in the city. Gen. Busizoori dismissed suggestions that the army is informally working with some of the gang members as informants, calling such claims “a lie.” He, however, acknowledged that the numbers involved in gang-related activities are significant.

He maintained that crime prevention is not solely a military responsibility and shifted the blame to parents and local leaders for what he described as moral decay within the community.

The commander also criticized politicians for allegedly emboldening ghetto youth during campaign periods by promising support that is rarely fulfilled after elections. “You know politics. People talk because they want votes. Once the voting has ended, it ends there,” he said. As a long-term solution, Busizoori proposed ideological training and skills development programs to reform the youth. He revealed that efforts had been made to enroll some of them in presidential skilling hubs, but many declined the offer.

“Most of them are drug addicts. If we could take them for ideological training and give them skills, it would help. Once we get funding, we shall take most of them for skilling,” said. Gen Busizoori. Despite the ongoing joint operations between the army and police, Gen. Busizoori emphasized that without stronger parental guidance, community leadership, and a review of how offenders are handled by the courts, security agencies alone cannot end the cycle of crime in Gulu.

Morris Odong, the LCV Councilor for Laroo-Pece Division, also the Laroo-Pece Division City Councilor elect, told Uganda Radio Network earlier that lack of parental guidance remains a big challenge in the moral upbringing of youth in the city. He reiterated that without a proper family upbringing, many youth will continue to flock the streets to join networks of gangs, a move he says will further fuel criminality within the city.

Since the recent attacks, at least 90 suspected criminal gang members have been arrested in an impromptu crackdown conducted by joint security personnel comprising the UPDF and the Police between February 15 and 16. The crackdown was conducted in hotspot areas along Cemetery Road and the prison ward, all in the Laro-Pece Division, and the GASCO petrol station in the Bardege-Layibi Division. According to David Ongom Mudong, some of the suspects are among inmates who were released from Gulu Main Prison after undergoing plea bargain.

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