Do not confuse me with the centenary celebrations – Kayihura

Gen Kayihura (R) speaks to the Internal Affairs permanent secretary, Mr Stephen Kagoda, during the press conference at the Police Headquarters in Naguru yesterday. PHOTO BY FAISWAL KASIRYE

Kampala. The Inspector General of Police, Gen Kale Kayihura, has asked critics of the current police administration to put down their differences ahead of the Force’s centenary celebrations, saying the police as an institution is bigger than individual officers.
Gen Kayihura said the centenary celebrations are not meant only for the present but for the past and the future of the police. “The celebrations have nothing to do with any of us, even if you have a problem with the current leadership, at least honour those who died in line of duty,” Gen Kayihura told journalists at the police headquarters in Naguru yesterday.
The IGP’s remarks come shortly after the Police Authority cleared him to be appointed by the President for a fourth term at the helm of the Force. This attracted criticism from Opposition political party Uganda People’s Congress ,who accuse Gen Kayihura of leading a brutal and anti-human rights police force.
“I do not want those who are confusing me with the centenary celebrations,” Gen Kayihura said adding: “the police have done a lot of good things which, as an institution, should be credited for.”
He for example, said the police have established a community policing programme which he said would be instrumental in curbing crime in the country.

Unstoppable
“We are creating a national culture of crime preventers, and no one can stop us, whether you like it or not it has caught like world fire,” Gen Kayihura noted.
But Gen Kayihura said the police are still facing challenges in ensuring a fully-fledged community police. He said it is difficult because Uganda inherited a “weak” colonial system. “You see people caught raping a girl and you have to take them to court to prove them guilty,” Gen Kayihura said adding: “It should instead be the other way round and suspects to should prove that they are not guilty.”
Meanwhile, Gen Kayihura, while responding to concerns that the ex-Prime Minister would be arrested following his dismissal from Cabinet earlier this month, said the police are not concerned about issues surrounding former prime minister Amama Mbabazi, saying they (police) only have a privilege of protecting the former premier.
“Who told you we want to arrest him? We are not; we only have the honour to protect him. That’s all,” Gen Kayihura said.