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Minister Rwamirama: ‘Each Tourist Car Will Have Police For Protection’

 The State Minister for Veteran Affairs in the Ministry of Defence, Bright Rwamirama has revealed that going forward each tourist car will have Police for protection.

The Minister made the remarks while appearing before the Defense and Internal Affairs Committee where MPs questioned the Army on the recent kidnap of American tourist Kimberly Sue and her Ugandan guide, Jean Paul Mirenge by suspected criminals in Queen Elizabeth National Park last week.

In his response, Rwamirama blamed the tourist for the kidnap, saying she refused to move with security in the park, but says that going forward they plan to accord security to tourists in areas where the country has borders which are not well guarded. 

 “[The area] where the American was abducted had a UPDF detach but the people who were guiding the tourist weren’t interested in security;  had they wanted security, they would have provided it to them but them not wanting security is what caused the abduction; maybe the tourist and her tour guide wouldn’t have been kidnapped,” Rwamirama said.

He added: “Now we have put a new arrangement in areas next to the borders like DRC where there are killings, each tourist car will have Police to protect the tourists.”

When asked by journalists to explain how the Army came to know the tourist had declined security, an irritated Rwamirama fired back a question; “Do you think Police has been seated and didn’t carry out investigations?”  

The Minister’s remark come at the time when Sue was released and later handed over to the United States Mission in Uganda after calls by US President Donald Trump tasked Uganda arrest the people behind the kidnap of the US citizen.

 “Uganda must find the kidnappers of the American Tourist and guide before people will feel safe in going there. Bring them to justice openly and quickly!” read Trump’s statement on his twitter handle.

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