MPs decry brutality of KCCA law enforcement officers

By Moses Walubiri

Legislators have taken exception to what they have labeled “as shameful brutality and extortionist tendencies” of Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) law enforcement officers saying such base conduct denies the authority “a human face.”

During presentation of KCCA’s half year performance for the current financial year (June to December 2013), MPs Jessica Ababiku, Latif Ssebagala and Maj. Gen. J.F Oketta accused KCCA’s law enforcement officers of “brutality and extortion” with Rtd. Col. Fred Mwesigye blaming the high handedness on alienation of KCCA by the public.

“Whenever these law enforcement officers go to the field, for them it’s time for harvest – roughing up and confiscating merchandise of common people, or extorting money from them,” Oketta said, partly blaming the animus many ordinary city dwellers have against KCCA on such conduct.

“You cannot expect ordinary people not to vandalize security lights or manholes because they look at KCCA as a brutal organization,” Oketta charged, as he sought to explain the spate of vandalism of KCCA property.

Ssebagala, one of the few legislators representing a constituency under KCCA’s ambit accused KCCA of stuffing its law enforcement department with base “rogues,” challenging the city authority to come clean on complaints that confiscated merchandise ends up feathering nests of officers running such operations.

“KCCA law enforcement officers are a bunch of thugs literally looting merchandise of road side sellers which reflects badly on the city authority. Let it be a known practice that if your caught selling goods on city pavements, your merchandize is either auctioned or destroyed, but not looted,” Ssebagala said.

Acting KCCA Executive Director, Judith Tukahirwa, acknowledged that KCCA routinely gets complaints about its rogue law enforcement officers, although she rejected insinuations that the problem is as widespread as projected by MPs.

“We continue to get complaints from the public about this issue, but our internal mechanisms to handle such issues don’t get to the public domain,” Tukahirwa said.

KCCA banned hawkers and selling of merchandise on city pavements close to three years ago, with  its law enforcement officers mandated to enforce the policy shift.