Hello

Your subscription is almost coming to an end. Don’t miss out on the great content on Nation.Africa

Ready to continue your informative journey with us?

Hello

Your premium access has ended, but the best of Nation.Africa is still within reach. Renew now to unlock exclusive stories and in-depth features.

Reclaim your full access. Click below to renew.

Don't treat police like a third-wheel

What you need to know:

  • It should not be rocket science to figure out what a well supported professional Police Force can bring to the table.

The revelation of the travails of the Uganda Police Force’s foot soldiers in the Auditor General’s latest report should not come as a vulgar surprise. The cracks have always been there to see. As a matter of fact, the issue of police welfare, or more accurately the lack of it, is a long-standing problem whose roots run deep.

The implications of the deficits are unmistakable—instead of doing police work, the vast majority of the Force’s officers have made a habit out of getting surreptitious payments from errant residents in Uganda. This only succeeds in turning Uganda into a Wild West.

For instance, instead of facilitating traffic, officers erratically mount checkpoints with the cold interest of extorting money from motorists who fall foul of the fine line between right and wrong. Others have simply become beggars, not different from the street children whom they hound out of the roads in the central business district.

As well as slightly more than half of the housing needs of the Force’s 38,460-strong officers not being met, the Auditor General also disclosed—again to the surprise of only a handful—that tools to do police work are not always guaranteed.

The Police Marine Unit, for one, operated at a pitiful 28 percent during the study period, responding to 210 out of the 745 incidents reported on water bodies.

All of which invites one to wonder whether the unit would have done more than being condemned to the fate of retrieving 243 corpses had it had the wherewithal to move the needle. Eighteen of the unit’s 60-strong fleet of vessels were deemed “nonfunctional” by the Auditor General, with a well-constructed marina conspicuous by its absence.

To be clear, it is not just the traffic and marine units that are assailed by crippling problems. 

The manner in which the Canine Unit’s 280 dogs are deployed was, for instance, called into question by the Auditor General. It is, wrote Mr Edward Akol in his first report as Auditor General, too Kampala-centric.

If the police is to make good on its key functions such as protecting life and property; preserving law and order; as well as preventing and detecting crime, to mention but two, the current state of affairs will not suffice. 

Not by a long shot. It is in the best interests of all that the responsible authorities swiftly move to address these anomalies that continue to stick out like the metaphorical sore thumb.

It should not be rocket science to figure out what a well-supported professional Police Force can bring to the table. Police officers can only be guardian-oriented (i.e. prioritise community safety and relationships) when they have some wind in their sails. 

For now, it is so evident that state actors are oddly so keen on rocking the boat. We should not normalise this rather deeply disturbing status quo.