Quality of Ugandan police detectives has declined- Kaweesi

Mr Andrew Felix Kaweesi, police spokesperson and director human resource development. File photo

What you need to know:

  • Over the years, the CID directorate is given between Shs4b-Shs5b instead of Shs54b needed to investigate close to 30,000 capital offences like murder, fraud, robbery, defilement and rape.
  • Mr Kaweesi said detectives need to be well vast with first changing technology because crimes are now virtually committed.

KAMPALA. The quality of police detectives has drastically declined in the recent past, police spokesperson, Andrew Kaweesi, has said.
Mr Kaweesi, also director human resource development, said detectives of the previous years were credible and committed as far as investigations were concerned.
While closing a weeks’ homicide course for investigators and pathologist from Uganda and Kenya at the weekend, Mr Kaweesi noted that several detectives fail to investigate capital offences to the climax because of poor attitude and commitment towards their work.

“We are all called detectives but that is not just a descriptive word. A detective is believed to have a sixth sense. It means when a crime is committed or is about to be committed, you are supposed to be able to see it before others and avert it,” Mr Kaweesi said.
He continued: “Detectives of the time when we joined police could be felt. Sometimes just their presence could make suspects tremble and spit out the information. But today, we see that quality is going down.”

Mr Kaweesi’s sentiments come barely a week after Mr Felix Ndyomugyenyi, Deputy Director Human Resource, said Police’s Criminal Investigations Department (CID) had failed to conclusively investigate 4,000 murders in the last four years.
Some CID officers who spoke to Daily Monitor put the blame on insufficient funding to the CID, arguing that a single homicide case needs an average of about Shs2 million.
According to them, over the years, the CID directorate is given between Shs4b-Shs5b instead of Shs54b needed to investigate close to 30,000 capital offences like murder, fraud, robbery, defilement and rape.
Mr Kaweesi said detectives need to be well vast with first changing technology because crimes are now virtually committed.