Ugandan Leader Seeks Death Penalty as Murder Incidents Increase

(Bloomberg) -- Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni wants convicted murderers sentenced to death to curb rising killings in the East African country.

The nation has in recent years witnessed the murders of a ruling party lawmaker, a prosecutor, policemen, Muslim clerics and entrepreneurs. There have also been kidnappings for ransom, according to authorities.

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“You may commit a crime, carelessly taking away the lives of others; however, you will also lose your own life,” Museveni said in a statement. “It must be an eye for eye.”

The death penalty isn’t mandatory in Uganda and would require lawmakers to change guidelines under which convictions are made, Vincent Mugabo, a spokesman for the judiciary, said by phone from the capital, Kampala.

Uganda will introduce measures such as digital registration of all vehicles and motorcycles so that their movements are electronically tracked, the Ugandan leader said. Murders in the country have mainly been conducted by people riding motorcycles, according to the police.

Authorities in the country started installing surveillance cameras last year and at least 85% of the first phase in the capital, Kampala, has been completed, according to the Uganda Police Force.

To contact the reporter on this story: Fred Ojambo in Kampala at fojambo@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Malingha at dmalingha@bloomberg.net, Eric Ombok, Helen Nyambura

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