The Director of Human Resource Development in the Uganda police Force has let the proverbial cat out of the bag; according to the Assistant Inspector General of Police Andrew Felix Kaweesi, 80 per cent of the crime investigators in Uganda are incompetent.
AIGP Kaweesi is an officer of high caliber, who has held several command and administrative positions in the police force and his observations should be given the attention they deserve.
And, in his submission Mr Kaweesi makes mention of the failure by some officers to distinguish between the various narcotic drugs confiscated while being trafficked or marketed, something that is most likely to jeopardize investigations and the eventual administration of justice, since judicial officials cannot convict suspected traffickers on the basis of incomprehensive evidence adduced by police investigators.
Similarly, the other sophisticated crimes like money-laundering, human trafficking and cyber crime also need to be accorded serious attention if the country is to claim its rightful position in the policing world.
It is worth noting that of late the police has managed to contain the rate of ‘ordinary’ crime in Uganda, something the officers should be lauded for.
But there also are grey areas like crowd/demonstration control which need to be addressed and this will necessitate the police to begin the process of churning out ‘specialised’ personnel; men and women who will exhibit and uphold professional standards while discharging their duties.
This, like Afande Kaweesi says, should be done by circumventing the disruption the would-be transfers of the specialized officers causes.
