The Parliament Appointments Committee has this afternoon approved the re-appointment of General Edward Kale Kayihura as the Inspector General of Police (IGP).
In a closed-door meeting, Speaker Rebecca Kadaga, her Deputy Jacob Oulanyah and Leader of opposition (LoP) Winnie Kizza okayed Kayihura’s new three-year contract announced by President Yoweri Museveni early this year.
The vetting and subsequent approval of Gen Kayihura took place despite a petition filed by a group of activists led by lawyers Andrew Karamagi and Brian Atuhaire that implored Speaker Kadaga not to endorse the IGP’s re-appointment, with claims that his tenure has been characterized by abuse of human rights including torture by his officers; partisanship and brutality. However, the petition was not considered.
A lawyer, and army officer-turned-police boss, Kayihura rose from the rank of Major to General. He was appointed IGP in 2005 replacing Gen. Edward Katumba Wamala.
Sections of the public say that Gen. Kayihura’s legacy as police boss will be remembered for the way the police force has, between 2006 and 2016, handled key opposition figure Col. (rtd) Dr Kizza Besigye, his bush-war comrade and President Museveni’s personal Doctor during the five-year war that brought the National Resistance Movement/Army (NRM/A) to power in 1986.
