Address police housing conditions

Describing their ordeal, several officers said when it rains, their property including beddings, chairs and other household items get soaked. Others claim they have to lift basins over their heads to stop the rain from filling their houses.

Heavy rains have been pounding parts of the country, leaving several people dead and hundreds of others displaced from their homes. The Police have not been spared. With many living in dilapidated housing that ideally is not safe for human occupation, they have in recent days been severely affected by the heavy downpour. Reason; many are housed in buildings with leaking roofs.

Describing their ordeal, several officers said when it rains, their property, including beddings, chairs and other household items get soaked. Others claim they have to lift basins over their heads to stop the rain from filling their houses.

This is a regrettable situation but not something entirely unfamiliar in Uganda. For a long time, Police staff housing has been one of the biggest issues for the Force. Government is aware of these conditions and says the problem will be addressed.

Unfortunately this has been the government promise for a long time. Most of the Police houses were constructed in the early years of post-independent Uganda and have never been renovated and yet the force continues to grow in numbers.

Other officers are now being housed in tin and wood structures. The conditions are generally deplorable.
But the housing challenge is a national problem and not just for the Police. According to the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Uganda’s current housing backlog is estimated at 1.6 million units. With a fast growing population, this housing deficit could hit 8 million by 2020 if no effort is put in place to address the crisis.

Even the available decent houses are too expensive for the average Ugandan to afford. As a result, many seek cheap informal housing in slums.

For a country which prides in an ever growing economy and recently the discovery of oil, housing should be on its top priorities of issues to address. But more urgently, the government needs to address the housing conditions of the Police. They offer their services to this country and deserve a lot better.