The territorial police of West Nile Region will be offering general security as well as supervising fireworks displays in the various places within the region in the night between 31st December 2022 and 01st January 2023 so as to welcome the new year peacefully. The venues for the display must have been cleared by the Inspector General of Police(IGP) and those not cleared by the IGP will not be allowed to display fireworks. Arua City and District have 33 places cleared by the IGP for the display, Koboko district has 08 places, Nebbi district has 05 places, Pakwach district has 05 places, Zombo district has 03 places, Maracha has 03 places, and Madi-Okollo has 02 places.
The display guidelines include: wide advertisment in both the electronic and print media especially in the local FM radio stations or Newspapers; proof of advertisment in the papers must be on pages 1, 2, 3, and 4 only, and must be large enough; the fireworks material to be displayed must be of less sound and not more than 1.5mm caliber; the display should not be more than five(05) minutes; the Regional/territorial police reserves the power to stop the display if not satisfied with adherence to the guidelines; Counter terrorism personnel should escort the fireworks material and supervise the display with the area DPC ensuring security for the fireworks and measures are in place to protect the public from any possible dangers during the display; any fireworks materials not displayed must be handed over back to Counter terrorism; Counter terrorism Police and territorial police must inspect the venue to ascertain it's suitability for fireworks display; the display ground should be about 100 metres away from the residents.
We urge the organizers of fireworks display to abide by the above guidelines all the time inorder to prevent fatalities, injuries, damages and Punic among members of the public.All the spectators are advised to remain calm and obedient to the laws of the country to prevent causing or getting problems. Failure to abide by the guidelines and the laws of the country may lead to stopping of the fireworks display exercise as well as taking lawful action on such defiant organizers and spectators.
SP Angucia JosephinePRO West Nile Region.
