Police chiefs shun send-off ceremony

Retired police chiefs invited for a special send-off ceremony organised by the leadership of Uganda Force on Friday shunned the event, and gave no reason for their decision to stay away.
Only one out of five former directors turned up despite all receiving the invitation for a function that had been billed as history-making.

Over the years, retiring police directors ended their tenures, handed over office and returned home quietly in contrast to the military where their equivalents, generals, exit with a fanfare; a send-off bash, cash sweetener and retain cars as well as guards.
Following complaints that the police were failing to appreciate its former top brass who sacrificed decades in service, the leadership at Naguru headquarters made arrangement and recalled exited senior officers, among them directors, for a class formal send-off that journalists were invited to cover.

However, at the appointed time, only Mr Moses Balimoyo, a former director for Administration, was at Naguru Police headquarters, leaving organisers scratching their heads whether the ex-police officers were absent in protest.
A total of 48 police officers invited for the ceremony were of the following ranks; assistant superintendent of police, superintendent of police, senior superintendent of police, assistant commissioner of police, commissioner of police, senior commissioner of police and assistant inspector general of police (directors).
The ex-directors who were a no-show included Mr Grace Turyagumanawe        (Interpol, peace support operations) Mr Godfrey Bangingirana, (Logistics and Engineering), Mr Asuman Mugenyi (Operations), and Mr Stephen Kasiima (Traffic).

None of the directors yesterday received or returned our telephone calls seeking to establish the reasons why they never turned up.  
“This (send-off with a bang) is a culture that has not been [there in Uganda Police Force]. We are just trying to [initiate it so that] our officers just do not go home without recognition. Maybe, they did not get the invitation on time,” said police spokesman Fred Enanga.
In a telephone call last evening, former police commissioner Henry Tumwesigye said he received the invitation, but did not attend the ceremony because he was upcountry.
At the Friday event, the Inspector General of Police,  Mr Martins Okoth-Ochola, commended the officers for their selfless service to the Force and the country, and urged them to remain patriotic and disciplined in retirement.

“I, therefore, call upon you to always see yourselves as good emissaries of Uganda Police Force and never allow any selfish interest to blemish the integrity you have nurtured over the years in this great disciplinary institution. You surely remain our mirrors and ambassadors wherever you will be,” he said.
Mr Balimwoyo, a former director who joined police in 1974 and served for 46 years, speaking on behalf of retirees, challenged the Force to examine its modus operandi, and do self-introspection in light of the increasing public disapproval and withholding of information and intelligence from police officers.

He told Daily Monitor that he joined the Force aged 20 and his starting salary was Shs321, when the Uganda shillings:United States dollar exchange rate was 1: $7.
“Yes, the earning is small, but we need to learn the culture of saving,” he said.
Mr Balimoyo urged police leadership to recruit incrementally, not massively, and undertake in-service refresher course as current police charges to achieve the United Nations recommended 1:500 police to population ratio.

Top police retirees

Absent at send-off
1. Grace Turyagumanawe, Interpol (Peace support operations)
2. Godfrey Bangirana, Logistics and Engineering
3. Asuman Mugenyi, Operations
4.Stephen Kasiima, Traffic & Road Safety
Present
1.Moses Balimoyo, Administration