The Inspector General of Police (IGP) Martins Okoth Ochola is waiting with bated breath as he enters the final stretch of his second 3-year contract.
IGP Ochola was first appointed Police boss in March 2018, replacing the then powerful Gen Kale Kayihura. Ochola’s contract expires in less than 60 days.
IGP Ochola was given a second 3-year contract in March 2021, with that contract set to expire in March this year, a mere 52 days from today.
Multiple sources who are very knowledge with the behind-the-scenes security apparatus say that IGP Ochola is very unlikely to win a third contract renewal.
Sources say President Museveni has been consulting his trusted lieutenants regarding IGP Ochola’s fate, which has been made more critical as the country heads into the high stakes 2026 general election, that is just one year away.
IGP Ochola has not been helped by his health troubles, as he was forced to publicly declare that he is “as fit as fiddle” in September 2021, amid rumours that he could not effectively carry out his duties as police boss because of health complications.
President Museveni and his National Resistance Movement(NRM), who will be seeking a record 7th 5-year term in 2026, will be keen to have a combat-hardened IGP as he has often relied on the police to crush dissent during elections and help him to secure disputed victories.
IGP Ochola is a police veteran who joined the Forces in 1987 and has enjoyed a meteoric rise from a Cadet Assistant Superintendent of Police, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Superintendent of Police, Director CID, Assistant IGP and Deputy IGP.
IGP Ochola has enjoyed a fairly unblemished record in Police, though the Justice Julia Ssebutinde Commission of Inquiry into corruption in the Police faulted him for irregularly ordering the release of an impounded vehicle in 1998. The Commission, however, cleared him.
