All is not well in Mary Stuart, the Girl’s hall at Makerere University with the rising cases of theft happening within the hall almost every day. The most recent incident occurred on Thursday night when a stranger broke into room J6 and stole various student property including laptops, money, and smartwatches among other things.
However, one of the students saw the intruder and raised an alarm, forcing him to drop his loot and get away. An eyewitness, who didn’t want to be named, says that the occupants of room J6 were away when the intruder broke in.
“At first, some girls saw him trying to use the balcony to go out, but they ignored him until some girls became suspicious and started shouting that’s when he ran. At this time, the guy had packed two bags and when we started shouting he jumped from the tower and ran for his life. But as soon as he started running, some male students who were near Mary Stuart ran after him and he surrendered the second bag,” she narrates.
The occupants of room J6 declined to comment on the incident when approached by our reporter. Another resident who preferred anonymity told URN that this is just one of the many incidents that happen at the hall often these days. “Theft literally happens every day. Every damn day. During recess, the thief broke into our room, which was also a balcony room (but this room has both the window and door on the balcony). He slid the window and stole two phones,” he said.
The source explained that “So the new warden got a solution of sealing the windows and putting locks on them.” Asked what could have caused the increase in cases of theft at the time, she said “There is not enough security personnel and no security measures.” In fact, she said that the closure of the nearby boys’ hall, Lumumba, increased insecurity because she thinks thieves feared the Lumumba boys, who were in charge of the “Gongom Guard brigade” that kept an eye on both Mary Stuart and Lumumba hall.
“We are secluded. And we are all girls. I’m not saying Lumumba was everything, but just their presence scared the thieves. And realistically speaking, theft might even skyrocket if Lumumba hall remains closed”, she told URN. Lumumba hall was recently closed for renovation.
Stephania Nalwoga, a former Chair lady at Mary Stuart hall also told URN that thieves have identified some of the weak links. She claims that the security lights are insufficient and that the architecture of the hall includes numerous unofficial entrances that allow in outsiders, which she claims require sufficient human resources.
Alionze Lawrence, a former Guild aspirant told URN that the University made a mistake by closing Lumumba Hall because it was critical to the security of the Mary Stuart.
This is however not the first time that theft and insecurity have been reported within the University. Makerere University Police Post released a four-year report in 2017 that highlighted high cases of computer thefts. According to the report, between 2013 and 2016, at least 178 laptop computers were stolen from students and staff.
Sixty-seven laptop computers were stolen in 2013, 49 in 2014, 32 in 2015, and 30 in 2016. seventy-six mobile phones, 63 of burglary, and 52 cases of stolen car parts among others were registered in the same period. The cases were frequently linked to the illegal entry points that characterize the University.
While Makerere University has three official motorized gates, the Main Gate on Makerere Hill Road, the Western Gate on Sir Apollo Kaggwa Road, and the Eastern Gate on Bombo Road. It does, have dozens of pedestrian entry points, both official and unofficial.
While the three official gates open and close at specific times, the small entry points are generally open 24 hours a day, seven days a week without security. This means that hundreds of people, including those with malicious intent, enter and exit Makerere without being checked. Efforts by URN to speak to the Dean of Students were futile as he neither picked up nor returned calls from our reporter.URN
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