The militarized Uganda Police is Too Angry!

Civil Force

I have seen the evolution of the Uganda Police since the President started appointing military generals to transform it. A major shakeup of the Police took place under the Maj. General Katumba Wamala. The President had always judged the police by the way they voted and dismissed the civil force as remnants of the Obote era. Maj General Kale Kayihura has overly militarized the Police and made them too angry uncivil and uncouth!

I recall quite well that by the time NRM came to power, the Uganda Police was already a wreck. Their living conditions were no better than broken debris of colonial style makeshifts. In every Police barracks one goes, from Naguru, Nsambya and wherever Police Barracks existed, the diminutive existence of this group was stellar in its overall presentation. An ordinary Policeman lived alone in hot and inhuman Unipots if he were lucky. Most of them shared small houses with large families. One constant feature of any Police barracks was bustling sewerage system that snaked through the terrible road conditions. Overcrowding and congestion were commonplace.

Civil servants in Uganda are quite admirable groups when it comes to enduring the greed of the political class. While the Police and teachers have endured the most humiliation in our society, their commitment and zeal to execute their duties remained impeccable and incorruptible. They were on their duty stations on time even when their salaries always came in arrears, many months late. They forfeited civilian lifestyle that they could not afford and remained neatly tucked in their regimented lives of rations.

I recall the many children from Police barracks that we attended schools in Naguru with. Even when they could not afford the luxuries that other kids had, such as having pocket change to buy pancakes and so forth, they soldiered on through the day undisturbed. Often they were the nicest kids, quite humble, sociable and caring. They never spoke much about their own imaginations in public for fear of being ridiculed by society and yet, inside, they had their separate dreams.

The struggles of regular Policeman, to a greater extent, were reflected on the humble faces of their children. But the disparities that existed between the regular constables, the traffic offers (most corrupted) and the officers were such a sharp contrast. Even then, any son of a Police officer would never be seen in public to show off or brag about comfort of life or might of the father as we see nowadays.

Definitely, the disciplined and professional Police of the 80s and 90s are nonexistent now. What we have now are a bunch of angry dastardly machines dressed up in Police Uniforms. The real professional police which was a civil force has been inadvertently replaced by military men who are loaded with and aligned to the NRM’s ideology or corruption and repression.

Every time I see the pictures of the Police officers in action; either detaining or violating the rights of opposition leaders, my faith in them sinks. Our generation were taught that the primary duties of the Police are to keep law and order. The Kayihura Police is just too angry to do any of those civil duties. Instead, they cause civil unrest and participate shamelessly in violating fundamental human liberties for which the force should actually be safeguarding.

I have never seen any angry Police Commanders like the ones I see in the media in action in Kasangati and Gayaza. I have advised my friends not to ever frequent this side of Kampala because of these angry Policemen who appear as if they were perennially constipated. This is largely due to the experiences of Col Besigye when the police littered his farm with faeces after feeding on beans and posho.

It is a pity indeed that the Uganda Police has crafted an image as a toolkit for repression of the masses. This is very bad for our infantile democracy and more so for economic development because the Police is supposed to be impartial force if they are to protect all Ugandans and their properties irrespective of their political or ideological differences.

It is even strange how the Police of nowadays are prophetic, in that they foresee intent before the act. The militarized Uganda Police is just too angry a force and it must be revitalized, counselled and rehabilitated henceforth to civility!!

END.