Govt to Borrow Shs 393 Bn for CCTV Cameras in Urban Areas

Government is set to borrow Shs 393 billion from Standard Chartered Bank among other financiers to enhance installation of CCTV cameras in Kampala and other urban areas as recommended by President Museveni.

This was resolved during a Cabinet sitting on Monday and revealed by the Minister of ICT and National Guidance, Frank Tumwebaze while addressing the media on Tuesday at the Uganda Media Centre in Kampala.

“Cabinet approved the proposal to borrow up to USD 104 m to finance the national CCTV network expansion project,” he told the press.

The Minister said that desired funds would be used for designing and building the main Command and Control Centre, Mobile Command and Control Centres and Regional Command and Control centers.

Tumwebaze said that the money would also go into usage of video Surveillance through the installation of CCTV Cameras across the country as well as installation of integrated communication platforms.

“The money will also go into the integration of case management systems face recognition software, DNA as well as development of data centre with disaster recovery sites,” Tumwebaze said.

He added that the project will also see the installation of required network infrastructure as well as training staff in all the relevant system and operation and maintenance of the system.

According to the information from Police, the cameras will be imported in phases for the two-year project and a National Command Centre will be constructed in Naguru, a Kampala suburb, starting in October.

The works to install the CCTV cameras is already ongoing in parts of Kampala especially in major urban centres, key road junctions and highways.

The first batch of 900 CCTV cameras under the Uganda Police National CCTV Network Expansion Project are already being installed in strategic locations around Kampala Metropolitan Area.

Under the same effort, up to 81 kilometers of optic fibre cable have already been laid by a team of Police IT personnel and Huawei experts.

Police say this is part of the first batch of the 5,552 CCTV cameras prepared for the nationwide system. The intervention which is long overdue was announced by President Yoweri Museveni as part of the measures to reduce urban crime in the wake of unresolved assassinations of high profile individuals.