The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Although the Inspector General of Police, Abas Byakagaba, officially launched the implementation of sub-county policing six weeks ago, many challenges have already been witnessed, including leaving greater Kampala, which is a crime-prone area with only half of the 13,000 personnel it has been having.
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The police leadership has presented a proposed budget for the next fiscal year worth sh2.5 trillion.
Aggrey Wunyi, the police undersecretary, informed Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja on Thursday in a meeting that this budget would also help them effectively implement President Yoweri Museveni’s directive on the sub-county-based policing model.
Museveni ordered police to reduce the concentration of the personnel in urban areas to sub-counties, which would take police closer to the people and also minimize incidents of criminals terrorizing rural dwellers.
According to Museveni, farmers are crying foul over their coffee, cocoa, bananas, cattle, goats and other income-generating projects hampered by thieves and robbers. Museveni said criminals have successfully orchestrated thefts against farmers because police are far from the population in rural areas.
Although the Inspector General of Police, Abas Byakagaba, officially launched the implementation of sub-county policing six weeks ago, many challenges have already been witnessed, including leaving greater Kampala, which is a crime-prone area with only half of the 13,000 personnel it has been having.
Aggrey Wunyi explained to Nabbanja that the sub-county policing model would be effective if they recruited at least 10,000 police officers. These, Wunyi said, would cost the force over 43 billion shillings.
Uganda, according to the ministry of local government, has more than 2,184 sub-counties, town councils, and municipalities, and each will require a police station. Going by IGP Byakagaba’s suggestion of deploying 18 police officers per sub-county, it would make a total of 39,300 personnel.
Police numbers, including general duty, counter-terrorism, maritime, environmental police, mineral police, traffic police, detectives, field force unit, anti-stock theft unit and senior police officers ranging from Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) to Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIGP) stand at slightly over 49,000. This is according to the last pass out by former IGP Martin Ochola about 16 months ago.
In reality, many senior police officers, as well those in engineering, health services, and administration, might not be deployed at sub-counties. This is why Wunyi proposes the recruitment of 10,000 police personnel.
Byakagaba explains that they need to construct houses for police officers in these sub-counties. These houses are projected to cost 849 billion shillings. Currently, the police is one security agency in Uganda with the worst accommodation structures described by several organizations as a crisis.
At least 72 billion shillings is projected to be spent on constructing police offices, including a magnificent police headquarters at Naguru, Nakawa, in Kampala, as well as regional and district main police officers. 480 billion shillings, according to Wunyi, will be spent on procuring police vehicles for easy movement of personnel and response to security emergencies.
Police say that 40 billion shillings are needed for procuring motorcycles to be deployed at sub-counties since there will be constant patrols in the villages to protect rural dwellers and their property.
According to Wunyi, 100 billion shillings will be spent on purchasing fuel for vehicles and motorcycles, 77 billion shillings will be spent on procuring modern communication gadgets, and nearly 500 billion shillings will be spent on officers’ wages.
Nabbanja believes these costs can be minimized if the population volunteers to provide free land and construction materials. Nabbanja said every Ugandans should be involved in ensuring that police functions to their satisfaction and supported to fight crime.
It remains unclear whether IGP Byakagaba will win parliament’s support to have the 2.5 trillion budget passed since it’ll be a precedent. It should be remembered that former IGP Ochola often had a budget in trillion shillings, but he never got it for the six years he was in charge after replacing Gen Kale Kayihura.
Also, President Museveni, during the police council meeting barely a month ago, said recruiting new personnel would mean more wages and housing units, yet the money is not available. Museveni advised IGP Byakagaba and his team to prioritize technology and other services, such as the cabin,e which he said did well to end greater Masaka machete attacks in 2021.
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