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Ugandan forces imposed tight security in the capital Saturday as more than 30 heads of state began converging on Kampala for an African Union summit barely two weeks after deadly suicide attacks.
Police and military deployments in Kampala are regularly enhanced during international conferences, but after the July 11 bombings that left 76 dead, security is such that entering a shopping mall is similar to boarding a plane.
"Following the recent attack in Uganda, we have stepped up our security measures to a level that has never been seen," Deputy Foreign Minister Okello Oryem says. "Unfortunately, I think it has infringed on people's freedom to enjoy themselves," he added.
Kampala was chosen to host the 15th African Union heads of state summit, which opens on Sunday, long before the region's deadliest attacks in 12 years gave the venue extra significance.
It is an AU force that Uganda has led in Mogadishu since 2007 to support the fragile Somali transition government. That role was the reason the Al Qaeda-inspired Shebab group claimed responsibility for the Kampala attacks in a bid to force Uganda to withdraw from Somalia.
The Ugandan authorities immediately responded by assuring its fellow AU members that the summit was still on and should serve as a platform to muster more regional and international support for efforts to root out the Somali insurgents.
At a popular city centre shopping mall with several restaurants and Kampala's only cinema, motorists and pedestrians are now forced to join long queues while they wait for their handbags, bodies and vehicles to be checked.
The pre-summit meetings with foreign ministers from most African nations began on Thursday, while heads of state and other foreign dignitaries, including US Attorney General Eric Holder are expected to land in Kampala on Saturday and Sunday.
