Will IGP Ochola stay clean as he sorts out the dirty kraal?

Many have claimed that with the replacement of the controversial, militant and out rightly partisan Gen Kale Kayihura as Inspector General of Police (IGP,) the Uganda Police Force (UPF) is headed for better times. The premises of this assertion are that the new IGP, John Martins Okoth Ochola, is a seasoned professional police officer unlike Kayihura, who was adopted from the military. They think he will adhere to strict traditional policing in the Force bereft of the partisan politics that seemed to (mis)guide Kayihura in his course of duty.

Well, change has that optimistic side about it. You hope that everyone has learnt from the mistakes of the past and they will not repeat them for better results. But reality teaches us something else. Fundamental change means that you not only change the personnel, but the circumstances in which they operate. Ochola will be working under President Museveni and his NRM. Anything other than this presents the biblical disaster of pouring new wine into old wineskins. They are bound to burst.

Uganda police has a very great challenge in this vein. NRM under President Museveni has increasingly become unpopular and has to apply hard methods to assert itself. With the same old story line about bringing peace and prosperity for all, which is no longer believable, given what is taking place on the ground, there is need for some aggression. Corruption benefitting many people who are well connected and often protected by those in the higher echelons of power is a case in point.
So is the impunity by a clique that has become untouchable by the law, which they can break in broad daylight and be sure of getting away scot-free. Land grabbers fit in here. It has now become difficult to use persuasion and reason to win the hearts and minds of the people.

So over the last 30 years, it has gradually become necessary to create a power, which on the face of it, looks soft enough to fit in with the civil mandate of the police, but equally hard enough to force NRM’s agenda to perpetuate itself in power. In this vein, the police force has militarised its training and incorporated soldiers in the ranks for this purpose.
Ochola takes over at this point. Whatever he does, he will always be reminded of the cardinal interest of the NRM under Museveni. He will have to know that the NRM plans to stay on whether it is popular or not. He will, therefore, have to find ways and means of dealing with those in the opposition who take exception to the above. If they remain adamant about holding rallies and processions, will he fold his hands and look on? Won’t he also pull out the tear gas and baton-wielding anti-riot policemen?

If the Opposition insists on having rallies, will he stick to the Constitution and let them exercise their right, which are detrimental to the wishes of NRM? Will he also employ the ‘Kiboko squads’, which are shameless gangs of stick- wielding lumpens associated with the police, but who are ostensibly described as “businessmen trying to stop demonstrators from disrupting their trade” in the central business districts?

Will Ochola have the courage to stop and even arrest and prosecute senior army officers and government officials involved in land grabbing as has become the wont? Will the police under Ochola follow up the many cases of alleged criminals, who have confessed on TV such as Paddy Sserunjoji aka ‘Sobi’, and Ronald Assimwe, aka Kanyankole, that they have been hand and glove with the police in their involvement in crimes like robberies and contract killings done for moneyed businessmen?
Will Ochola give police a national character by addressing head-on issue of nepotism in the Force that has seen many of the top commanders being recruited from one region and ethnic group? Will he re-instate the Special Branch, which was effective in researching and documenting most crimes and criminals in the country, which threatened even those high up in the echelons of power?

Will Ochola respect court orders even when those orders hurt the interests of the NRM government and its supporters?
Most of the people who have worked within the framework of the NRM and other organisations which exhibit highhandedness to assert themselves often survive and thrive by joining in the flow and lying low.
Ochola has come with very great reviews about his character and service record to clean a very dirty kraal to help rid it of dung and weevils where there are beans.

The President, for whose interests the police have worked relentlessly and whose reputation have become gravely injured in the process under Kayihura, remains in place. So does the NRM government, which he leads and will continue to do so under a lot of resistance because of legitimacy issues.
It remains to be seen how Ochola will clean this kraal and come out with his shinny boots and decorated uniform, nice and clean. Our prayers, he definitely has.

Mr Sengoba is a commentator on political and social issues. [email protected] Twitter:@nsengoba