Police roll out plan to stop mental health challenges
Men sit outside a dilapidated housing block in Naguru Police Barracks in Kampala in 2013. Police say their officers need counselling because they face many mental health challenges attributed to poor housing and low pay. PHOTO/ FILE
What you need to know:
- The Force says the strategy, which involves counselling, will start with officers from Kampala Metropolitan area.
As Uganda today joins the rest of the globe to commemorate the World Mental Health Day, the Uganda Police Force (UPF) has rolled out a five-year strategy to address mental health challenges among their officers.
The director of Police Health Services, Dr Moses Byaruhanga, said the strategy, which involves counselling, will start with officers from Kampala Metropolitan (KMP) area before being rolled out upcountry.
“We have put up a task force and for about two weeks, we have had detailed discussions on what we are going to do in this plan. Currently we are going to start with the Kampala Metropolitan (KMP) area because that’s where we have the largest deployment of our personnel; about 13,000 to 16,000,” Dr Byaruhanga said in a telephone interview at the weekend.
Dr Byaruhanga said daily meetings on police officers’ welfare in the five-year strategy kicked off about a month back and these will take four months in Kampala Metropolitan area before they are rolled out to other up-country policing areas.
This comes amid rising suicide cases involving police officers, the latest being that of Alfred Obadia, 32, from the Very Important Persons Unit at Kireka Police Barracks on October 1.
The late Obadia, according to his wife, shot himself with a hand pistol in their bedroom.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), about 11 in 100,000 commit suicide annually in Africa, higher than the global average of nine per 100,000 people. For the Uganda Police Force where about eight officers have committed suicide since January, officials attribute the fatalities to poor welfare, low income, un-serviced bank loans and alcoholism.
Dr Byaruhanga said they shall hold counselling session for top commanders in the different units, who will then train their colleagues on how to stay mentally sound while on duty.
“We are going to form another task force team from the top level and for all those who require some bit of counselling and training, we are going to bring them together. We shall take them to Kabalya Police Training School and give them a one-month training, and then later re-deploy them,” Dr Byaruhanga said.
He revealed that currently, the police force has one certified psychiatrist and four clinical officers who will traverse the country briefing police officers on mental health.
Dr Byaruhanga meanwhile appealed to police commanders to be amiable to lower staff and not to keep a deaf ear on their concerns.
“This is a message we are giving to topmost commanders that if a lower officer comes to you with a problem, you must give him attention, listen to him then help him find solution. Otherwise, if you don’t give him audience, this problem is going to grow into a much more complex and this person may end up shooting himself or killing another person,” he said.
