At least 48 hawkers were arrested in January from the major streets of Gulu city

These orders follow the resurgence of hawkers on the streets, only four months after Gulu City Council authorities, backed by the army, evicted them. Security personnel and city council authorities say the hawkers are responsible for rising crimes in the city center and its environs.

To add emphasis to this, Brig. Bamwiseki noted the return of the hawkers is a security threat.

Brig. Bamwiseki alleges the recent rash of crimes in the city were orchestrated by street hawkers whose identities and line of business remains unclear.

He says when security arrested the hawkers, sanity was restored in the city and thus he called for a fresh crackdown to get rid of them.

According to Brig. Bamwiseki, the majority of the hawkers are non-Ugandans. He said that foreigners must be vetted, especially those residing and those entering the city and the Acholi sub-region at large.

Lamex Akena, Deputy Speaker of Gulu City Council, agreed, adding that there is need to have proper records of foreigners, especially detailed records of Ugandan youth returning from South Sudan.

He offered this solution in agreement with information from security that a number of Ugandan youths had begun returning home with guns, after defecting rebel outfits in South Sudan.

Wave of crime

Gulu city has suffered from a wave of gun crimes, mostly targeting boda boda riders, early this year with police and army attributing the vice to organized street gangs disguising themselves as hawkers.

At least 48 hawkers were arrested in January from the major streets of Gulu city suspected to be part of a criminal gang terrorising locals.

However, after screening, ten of these arrestees were found to be foreign nationals from Kenya, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and were all charged with illegal entry into the country.