100 crime preventers lose out on SPC jobs

Some of the frustrated crime preventers at Masaka Police Primary School grounds on Tuesday. PHOTO BY CHRISTOPHER KISEKKA.

Masaka- More than 100 crime preventers in Masaka District are crying foul after they missed an opportunity to join the Uganda Police Force.

The crime preventers claim after undergoing a four–month training, they had hoped to join police as Special Police Constables (SPCs) but were surprised to find their names were missing on the shortlist.
“We were earlier told that when recruitment starts, we will be given the first priority but we wonder why the police recruited new trainees and left us out,” Mr Alex Byaruhanga, one of the crime preventers, said.

“They dropped those who have trained and they brought in their relatives and some of them are even juveniles,” another crime preventer, Musa Mukumirizi, complained.

The crime preventers poured out their frustrations on Tuesday during a training session at Masaka Police Primary School grounds.
They attempted to take to the streets to protest the alleged omission of their names on the shortlist but some police officers interviewed and calmed them down.

The crime preventers also added that they want a refund of Shs17,000 which each contributed to form a Savings and Credit Cooperative Society (Sacco) for crime preventers if there is no plan to recruit them into the Force.

The Uganda Police Force recently announced that it will recruit at least 3,500 new police officers to bolster its strength ahead of this month’s general election. The new recruitment exercise, which started recently, will bring the police strength close to 53,000 officers.

Mr Maxwell Ogwal, the Southern region police commander, said some crime preventers were left out after failing interviews, some were physically weak, while others lacked the required academic qualifications.

The minimum academic requirement for probation police constables is Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education.