The Police Alert Squad has named five private security firms for allegedly deploying guards with faulty firearms.

Police spokesperson Fred Enanga identifies the implicated firms as Vision Security, Pinnacle Security, Ndugali Security, Premier Security, and Donward Security.

He explains that they decided to name and shame the companies deploying guards with faulty weapons because it exposes the lives of their clients and employees to danger. According to Enanga, the police Alert Squad recently recovered seven faulty guns from guards deployed on duty.

However, Grace Matsiko, the chairman of The Uganda Private Security Association (TUPSA), has asked the police not to take their findings as the representation of all the weapons in the hands of private security firms. He explained that the breakdown of firearms is similar to a situation where one leaves home with a functioning vehicle but it breaks down along the way and stops moving.

Enanga also accused private security companies of modifying the guns they hire from them. He explained that some private security firms have tampered with SARs and turned them into automatic rifles, which is very dangerous since the guards do not have the skills to handle and use automated weapons.

“We have noticed that a number of security private organizations are tempering with SAR guns turning them into high power automatic rifles. The leadership of police has directed territorial police commanders to confiscate all automated rifles. Private security companies are supposed to use Semi Automatic Rifles-SAR guns which are low-scale weapons. First of all, they do not know how to use these automated weapons,” Enanga said.

He singled out Magnum Security as one of the private security companies that have been red-flagged for illegally modifying SAR. Enanga said one of the guns confiscated from Magnum had been modified to the extent of carrying and utilizing a 30 bullet magazine yet it had been restricted to carrying only five bullets.

Matsiko said that police have officially informed them about one of the private security firms that are being investigated for allegedly modifying firearms.

Police said the modified weapons are a danger to public security because once they are stolen from the guards by thugs, they are likely to cause havoc. Enanga cites an example of a gun that was stolen from a security guard in Kyengera and was used in over ten robberies in less than two months.