Local authorities in areas along the shores of Lake Albert have put their electorate on a security alert fearing a possible intrusion of wrong element fleeing the Congo war. Heavy fighting is going in the North Kivu province of Eastern DRC between government forces and M23 rebels under the command of renegade General Bosco Ntaganda.
The escalating war has seen hundreds of Congolese nationals fleeing into the southern parts of Uganda for safety. Despite the fact that none of the refugees has used Lake Albert to cross into Uganda, local authorities there fear that some wrong element could infiltrate their districts using the waters.
Geoffrey Komakech, the LC V councilor Buseruka Sub County in Hoima district says that he is now on a trail to mobilize local council chairpersons and residents especially those along landing sites to register and scrutinize all new comers. He says with intelligence sources that rebel ADF remnants are regrouping in Eastern DRC and that war in the neighboring country there is need for security consciousness.
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James Mugenyi Mulindambura, the Kigorobya district councilor says ever since the recent regional security meeting during which local leaders were urged to mobilize people to be security conscious, he has been encouraging local council officials to have new persons screened and registered.
Mulindambura encourages residents and local leaders to scale up these efforts in light of the insurgence in Eastern DRC which is just a few kilometers away.
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Last month, colonel Felix Kulaigye, the army publicist confirmed that remnants of the rebels Allied Democratic Forces-ADF were regrouping in the jungles of Eastern DRC and could infiltrate the country to destabilize the oil exploration process in Bunyoro. Kulaigye called for vigilance at all levels and directed a thorough scrutiny of all refugees who flee into the country.
Although declining not to disclose the security strategy for the area, Buliisa RDC Florence Beyuunga said security agencies were ready to handle the situation. When URN talked to the RDC early this week, she was chairing a security meeting to beef up security along the Lake Albert shoreline.
