Kayihura should have resigned when he was called NRM cadre

Inspector General of Police Edward Kalekezi Kayihura, I watched a broadcast on NBS TV on the morning of Wednesday in which journalist Solomon Serwanja asked you questions arising from the letter I wrote to you on June, 12, 2014. In your response, you said you respected my opinions, but in the same sentence, added that what I had pointed out in my letter was rubbish.
At the time the letter appeared in the press, Daily Monitor journalists contacted you for a comment and you replied that what I had expressed were just my opinions and I was entitled to them. I was later informed that at one or two other public forums, you dismissed all the points I had raised in that letter.

I wish to point out the points about that letter. When I wrote it, I addressed it to you in person. I sent it by EMS of Uganda Posts and Telecommunications. The intention was to make sure the letter was delivered straight to your desk and not through Police Headquarters registry. This was deliberate: I wanted you to read the letter before anyone else so that you could choose to respond or not without involvement of a third party.
It is compulsory for everyone sending a letter/ package by EMS to indicate the personal telephone number of the sender. My telephone number was therefore clearly visible on the EMS address patch attached to the envelope. You never called me to discuss the contents of the letter.

Shortly afterwards, the contents of the letter appeared in the press, swiftly followed by a partial response from your office which was penned by Mr Enanga and published by the New Vision purporting to respond to some of the points I had raised. It ignored most of those that were not convenient for him and you to tackle. I could only surmise that you thought it was beneath you to respond directly to me and you involved third parties mainly Mr Enanga, of the then Public Relations Office at Police Headquarters.
Having pointed out the above salient points about my letter, I cannot comprehend your indignity about the letter appearing in the press. The Uganda Police Force is a public institution, created by the Constitution.

It is a very important cornerstone of our Criminal Justice System, together with the Judiciary, Directorate of Public Prosecutions and Uganda Prisons Service. Anything which afflicts any of these institutions will have a negative impact on the Uganda populace and may hurt the country’s international standing. To that extent, the Uganda Police Force is not your personal property, and neither is it my personal property.
It was from this perspective that Ugandans were entitled to know what was ailing the police. The feedback I got from Ugandans confirmed that. Various media approached me for interviews but I declined. I referred them to several retired police officers to find out whether they agreed with my observations or not.

I don’t recall any of them faulting me about the contents of my letter. As for your complaint that I should have approached you in person and voiced my concerns, I could not waste time on a man full of megalomania, bent on self-appraisal.
Various international human rights organisations including our very own Uganda Human Rights Commission, have since confirmed my observations and criticisms of the direction you are taking the police. You routinely appear at scenes of crime minutes after horrendous murders have been committed. This is never done in other police forces as it immediately confuses levels of command and Scenes of Crime officers cannot concentrate on the work at hand.
Your penchant for avoiding established police structures (CID) and standing orders have led you to employ criminals in police thus undermining professionalism of the force. This has prompted other security agencies to step in and halt the excesses.
In your NBS interview, you gleefully mentioned that I was the only invitee to the dinner ceremony who turned down the invitation. I am proud I did. As long as I am speaking the truth, I do not mind standing alone. The fact that others turned up does not mean they agreed with your methods of managing the police or the fact that President Museveni referred to you, being an officer in uniform of one of the armed forces, as a best cadre of the NRM party. This was the first time since Uganda’s independence, a head of one of the armed forces, was being referred to in public as a cadre of a political party.

I am one of the widely trained, experienced, and highly professional police officers in Uganda and if anybody ever referred to me as a cadre of any political persuasion, I would promptly offer my resignation, period.

Mr Karugaba is a Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police (retired) and former Director of CID, Uganda Police Force.