Police to use more militant methods

Gen Kale Kayihura is expected in court tomorrow. File photo

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Despite the challenges of skills’ development, Hajji Balimwoyo, said they are still short of funding to realise their targets

The Inspector General of Police, Gen Kale Kayihura, has said the days of using batons and whistles in public order management are long gone as challenges ahead require a more robust response from the authorities.
Gen Kayihura said properly equipping the police is inevitable as most of the groups, especially the youth they are policing, have become militant.
“Days of batons or whistles are over. It is more dangerous to say that the police shouldn’t be armed,” Gen. Kayihura said.
Gen Kayihura made the remarks while passing out 747 officers, including 103 Uganda People’s Defence Forces soldiers, 301 non-commissioned police officers and 343 others at the Junior Command and Staff College, a military facility at Gaddafi Barracks in Jinja District.
Training of police officers in army facilities has on several occasions been criticised by the Opposition and sections of civil society as militarising a civil force.
The trained officers are to be deployed in Kampala Metropolitan Police area.
He said one of the biggest challenges they face in the police is weak leadership, command and control of the officers due to shortage of skills.
The challenges, he said, can only be dealt with through constant training, more so in specialised units.
Police are now targeting 4,000 officers managing stations and districts to undergo similar training soon in military facilities.
Hajji Moses Balimwoyo, the director of police human resource management, said there is need to establish a police academy since many officers are promoted without getting skills needed to meet the tasks ahead of them.
Despite the challenges of skills’ development, Hajji Balimwoyo, said they are still short of funding to realise their targets.