Security

The compound I am living in has a high wall on three sides topped with broken glass, however on the third side it is possible to get over the fence from the offices next door – as I was to discover. My house has bars at all the windows – for which I was very grateful when one night someone managed to open 2 of the windows – well the catches are not very good.


I have large metal doors with a complicated system of bolts and padlocks. Most Europeans living in Kampala are in compounds with an askari – someone who controls the gate to the compound – as there is an assumption that all Europeans have a lot of money so are targets for burglary.

23 August 2010

I arrived at work to discover there had been a break in over the weekend. Owen – one of the cleaners - had discovered this at 06:30 when he arrived at work. There was no security guard around, an uneaten meal at his table the front door security gates were open but the door was still closed. The security gates on the accounts office had been opened and the inner door broken open. The computer and screen but not the keyboard or printer were missing and the desk drawers had been broken open and envelopes scattered around. Some of the staff went to the police station to report the incident. The askari had come on duty at 07:00 on Saturday and had not been due to be relieved until 07:00 Monday. His gun was also missing. The scenes of crime officer arrived with the staff just after 10:00 and very shortly afterwards about 6 policemen arrived with the absconded askari. He admitted to being an accomplice – he had been given 1.4million/- in what had turned out to be fake notes. His role had been to let the gang of 8 or 9 others in show them where accounts was and then disappear. He had hidden his uniform and the gun – although according to him not where it was found. He was in handcuffs and barefoot and made to pose for various photographs near the gun, the accounts etc. What I heard of his interrogation it was very different from what would happen in the UK. It appears that after the gang failed to find any money in accounts they had tried to gemmy the window on a small office and then tried the front door. They had done some damage to the lock but not managed to open it. According to the police there had been 3 other burglaries in the area on Saturday.