Police firearms for hire at Shs20,000 each day

For just under Shs1.3m one can officially process the paperwork required to acquire a firearm for personal protection, information from the Uganda Police Force (UPF) shows.
According to the information, individuals have to fill an application form to acquire or purchase guns. The form, which is also known as Police Form 98, costs Shs50,000.

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One then follows that up by paying for an application to deal in firearms. This costs Shs200,000 while the permit to purchase or acquire a firearm comes at cost of Shs1m.
Those figures do not, however, cover the associated and ancillary costs that one has to meet before they take aim and make their first shot.
Similarly, police escort services can be obtained anywhere between Shs30,000 and Shs32,000 per officer per day.
The two firearms licensing process and the provision of escort duties are part of a raft of services that the police are set to offer to the public during what is left of the 2022/2023 Financial Year (FY). This is in an effort to meet a Shs30 billion nontaxable revenue target that was set for the Force by the Finance ministry.
Mr Fred Enanga, the police spokesperson, was the first to give details about the range of paid services during a media briefing at the backend of March. The list of services has since been published on the official UPF website as the force attempts to create increased awareness about what it has to offer for cash.
“During the presentation of the Ministerial Policy Statement for the FY 2023/2024 to the committee on Defence and Internal Affairs on March 29, the UPF was tasked to popularise the approved sources of revenue collected as Non-Tax Revenue (NTR),” reads the information on the force’s website.
A temporary permit to import or export firearms will cost an interested party $100 (approximately Shs373,148) per a gun , while a permit to acquire or import 100 bullets costs $50 (approximately Shs186,574).

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Conditions
Mr Enanga, however, told Saturday Monitor that one has to meet several other requirements before the Firearm Licensing Board green-lights acquisition and ownership of a firearm in line with the provisions of the Firearms Act.
“The application can be approved or may not be approved depending on, among other things, the report from crime intelligence who are supposed to vet you and provide a police clearance certificate,” Mr Enanga revealed, adding that the clearance certificate “is then attached to the application form.”
Passport photographs and attested birth certificate, a gun permit, a medical report showing that the applicant is mentally fit to possess a firearm, proof that one has undergone firearms training, and an invoice from the gun suppliers, are other boxes that should be ticked.
“Training normally takes a month or two depending on your abilities, but the police usually recommends you to go to Kibuli to a firearms trainer who takes you through gun handling, aiming, shooting, safe procedures and all those other processes, but it is not paid for. I think there is a token which people give to their trainers,” Mr Enanga revealed.
Hidden costs
The downside is that the document is silent on some of the associated and ancillary costs that one has to pick before taking aim and shooting that very first shot. Some of the costs that are not mentioned include the cost of firearms, ammunition, extra magazines, guns belts, holsters and gun storage facilities.
Whereas the report makes mention of the need for training, it does not mention hearing and eye protection facilities like earmuffs and shooting glasses to protect the eyes from possible damage or burns likely to be caused by blown-back powder and ricocheting fragments.

Escort services
Other services from which the police are expected to make money is the provision of escort services for persons and for cash and other valuables. 
The services of a police constable can be accessed at a cost of Shs30,000 per day. Elsewhere, the services of an officer above the rank of an Inspector can be accessed for Shs32,000. Not everybody can, however, access the escort services.
“Access to escort services depends on the threat levels. We all have different threat levels. Now there are threat levels that can be handled under the general security, but there are also those specific threats that maybe imminent or life threatening,” Mr Enanga said, adding, “That becomes a serious matter and once you write to the Inspector General of Government, then the IGP takes a decision to authorise once the information is verified.”
The provision of escort services by security agencies has been a contentious issue over the years with people questioning why certain categories of people—including suspected criminals—have access to them. Mr Enanga told Saturday Monitor that every agency that offers such services should be in a position to explain the rationale and circumstances under which it arrived at the decision.

Other services
The police will also provide air charter services from the police air wing. The cost of charter flights range from $1,500 (approximately Shs5.6m) to $$2,800 (approximately Shs10.4m) per flight hour, depending on the aircraft.
The police are also available to offer training to private security organisations, hire out its boats, provide canteen services and hire out tents and open spaces.
Other services include, dog certification and dog sweeping, which can be accessed for Shs200,000 and Shs100,000 respectively, training of private security firms’ employees at an approximate cost of Shs175,000 per student minus accommodation, and feeding  as well as gun fingerprinting at Shs10,000 per gun.

Costs

• Firearm licence (preferably a pistol of any kind)—Shs1.25m
• Police Constable and Anti Terrorism Squadsmen—Shs30,000 to Shs32,000
• Guard fees for installations—Shs20,000 for every officer for every eight hours
• Dog certification—Shs200,000 per dog
• Dog Sweeping—Shs100,000
• Gun hire—Shs20,000 per gun/rifle per day
• Police Report—Shs60,000
• W-3A Sokol helicopter —$2,800 (approximately Shs10.4m) per flight hour
• AW109SP helicopter—$2,200 (approximately Shs8.2m) per flight hour
• Bell 206 helicopter —$1,500  (approximately Shs5.6m) per flight hour
• Fixed wing aero plane—$2,500 (approximately Shs9.3m) per flight hour.