Uganda orders military to protect Chinese businesses Published duration 15 November 2018

image copyright Getty Images image caption Troops will be deployed to protect Chinese businesses from robberies

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has ordered the army to protect Chinese companies following a spate of thefts.

Addressing a group of 120 Chinese investors on Wednesday, Mr Museveni announced increased patrols and CCTV installation in industrial parks.

China has significant investments in Uganda but businesses have lost large sums of money in robberies.

The government is under pressure to increase security amid an increase in violent crime across the country.

"To me, this is a simple problem to solve," President Museveni said, according to an official statement.

He added that any security workers who lose a gun while guarding a Chinese business could face a court martial. There have been concerns that guards may have facilitated some of the break-ins.

Several comments on the president's official Facebook page questioned why so much was being done to protect foreign companies and called on the government to instead support local investors.

The BBC's Catherine Byaruhanga in the capital, Kampala, says Mr Museveni's authority is being undermined by rising levels of crime, including murders and kidnappings as well as armed robberies.

The government has responded by organising patrols in and around the capital, erecting CCTV cameras and establishing a new civilian militia, known as Local Defence Units (LDUs).