Museveni orders Kayihura to fire police ICT director

President Museveni has directed police boss, Gen Kale Kayihura, to sack Mr Amos Ngabirano, the director for Information and Communication Technology in the police force.
Mr Ngabirano, said to be an expert in ICT, was recruited as a civilian into the police by Gen Kayihura on the strength of his “expertise”.
Mr Ngabirano has been getting three years renewable contracts with the current one ending this year.
Sources within the police say Gen Kayihura convinced Mr Ngabirano to return from London, UK in 2005 after being told that Mr Ngabirano was an expert in ICT.
Mr Ngabirano rose to become one of the top officials who had Gen Kayihura’s trust and enjoyed the rank of Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIGP).
As part of the investigations for this story, Sunday Monitor visited the headquarters of the Uganda Police Force at Naguru, Kampala and established that Mr Ngabirano had not reported to work for three weeks.

Order to disband committee
Impeccable sources have told Sunday Monitor that an angry President Musevebni directed Gen Kayihura to sack Mr Ngabirano and disband the procurement committee of the police during a National Security Committee meeting at State House Entebbe three weeks ago.
“I do not want to see him (Ngabirano) in the police,” Mr Museveni is quoted by a source as having told Gen Kayihura.
Without giving reasons, President Museveni is said to have gone ahead to instruct Gen Kayihura to also relieve members of the procurement committee of their duties.
The committee comprises Undersecretary in-charge of the police, Mr Rogers Muhirwa; the head of cyber unit in the Police Forensic Laboratory, Senior Superintendent of Police Richard Ndaboine; and the former director of Parliament Police, Mr Lemmy Twinomugisha.
The sources also said the President, without giving reasons, directed that the Commander of Kampala Metropolitan Police, Mr Frank Mwesigwa, also be relieved of his duties.
All the officers the President ordered to be removed from their positions, the sources said, were not present in the meeting.
The meeting, the sources said, was called to address the raging inter-agency rivalry and was attended, among others, by Ms Grace Akullo, the head of the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID), and the head of Intelligence at CID headquarters, Col Ndahura Atwooki.
According to the National Security Council Act 2000, the Security Council is comprised of the President, who shall be the chairperson; the Vice President; the Internal Affairs minister; the minister of Finance; the minister of Security; the minister of Defence; the Attorney General, the Minister of Foreign Affairs; and any other five members the President may appoint.
The ex-officio members of the National Security Council are the Inspector General of Police; the Chief of Defence Forces; the Director General of Internal Security Organisation; the Director General of External Security Organisation; the director of special branch; the director of the criminal investigations department; the Chief of Military Intelligence; and the Commissioner of Prisons.
“I am not aware of either his resignation or dismissal from the force. As far as I know he is still the director of ICT until I see his resignation letter or dismissal letter,” police spokesman Emilian Kayima said when contacted over the fate of Mr Ngabirano.

Corruption allegations
But impeccable sources say the President made up his mind to fire Mr Ngabirano following allegations of corruption regarding several procurement deals.
Mr Ngabirano had been tipped to head the implementation of the multi-billion project for the installation of close circuit television (CCTV) cameras that were promised by President Museveni after the killing of former police spokesperson and human resource director, AIGP Andrew Felix Kaweesi.
Mr Museveni repeated his vow to install CCTV cameras on highways and in the city when a number of women were killed in different places in Wakiso District last year.
It is a project in which Mr Museveni is said to be keenly interested.
Sources told Sunday Monitor that when Mr Museveni met with Chinese nationals who are supposed to install the CCTV cameras, they told him that they were dealing with Mr Ngabirano on the project.
This was after the security meeting referred to earlier in which Mr Museveni had said he did not want to see Mr Ngabirano in the police anymore.
At that point, the sources say, Mr Museveni called Gen Kayihura and asked him why Mr Ngabirano was still working in the police force.
Among the earlier deals that made Mr Museveni angry and lose trust in Mr Ngabirano, the sources say, is the procurement of a bomb detector for the vehicle of the Speaker of Parliament, Ms Rebecca Kadaga, and the procurement of “fake” security equipment for Entebbe airport.
The cost of the security system for Parliament is also said to have been inflated by the said procurement committee, while it is alleged that a fake bomb detector was bought for Ms Kadaga’s official car at a cost of Shs400 million.
This matter was reported to the Inspector General of Government for investigations but there has been no conclusion to the matter until now.
When pressure mounted to evict Mr Ngabiranio from the police, Sunday Monitor has been told, Gen Kayihura sent him on forced leave which was slated to end in April.
At the police headquarters in Naguru, the sacking of Mr Ngabirano is big news and those in the know discuss it in low tones for fear of possible reprisals.
Efforts to reach Mr Ngabirano were futile. His known phone numbers was on voice mail and the messages we left for him went unanswered.
Mr Ngabirano is the second most senior civilian that Gen Kayihura had appointed to the top echelons of the Uganda Police Force after his appointment to head the Force 13 years ago.
Gen Kayihura also appointed a former Kenyan police sergeant, Mr Ambrose Murunga, as his technical advisor, but the latter has since left the police.
A few days ago, Gen Kayihura transferred Mr Lemmy Twinomugisha from heading the Parliament Police to head the Directorate of Welfare and Production.
Mr Twinomugisha was replaced with a much junior officer, Superintendent of Police Anabera Nyiramahoro.
It remains unclear whether Gen Kayihura will act on Mr Muhirwa, Ndaboine and Mr Mwesigwa.
Attempts to speak to Gen Kayihura for this story were futile. He did not answer our repeated phone calls. \

Accusations

Impeccable sources say President Musevebni directed IGP Kale Kayihura to sack Mr Amos Ngabirano and disband the police procurement committee over alleged procurement of a fake bomb detector for the vehicle of the Speaker of Parliament, Ms Rebecca Kadaga, and the procurement of “fake” security equipment for Entebbe airport.
The cost of the security system for Parliament is also said to have been inflated by the procurement committee.