Police, army explain new recruitments
Dec 07, 2010
THE Police have said the ongoing restructuring, recruitment and training of crime preventers and polling constables is in accordance with the law.
By Cyprian Musoke
THE Police have said the ongoing restructuring, recruitment and training of crime preventers and polling constables is in accordance with the law.
Addressing journalists at the media centre yesterday, the commissioner for community affairs, Asuman Mugenyi, refuted allegations by Inter Party Corporation publicist Margaret Wokuri that the exercise was aimed at establishing militias for the 2011 polls.
“The amalgamation of the Mobile Police Patrol Unit (MPPU) and the Anti-Stock Theft Unit (ASTU) to create a Field Force Unit (FFU) was a resolution of the 20th Police Council in September this year,†said Mugenyi.
“The main aim was to streamline the command and control of the two units, which hitherto were performing similar tasks,†he said, adding that all East African countries had the same formation.
He refuted allegations by Wokuri that 29,000 youth were recruited in Ntungamo district, where First Lady Janet Museveni’s constituency is located.
Mugenyi said the residents requested for community policing when the Inspector General of Police, Kale Kayihura, visited the district in November.
“This has nothing to do with the First Lady. More so, her constituency of Ruhama does not cover the entire district. The participants were drawn from all walks of life regardless of age, religion, political affiliation or ethnic origin,†Mugenyi said.
The volunteers, he noted, were not given any weapons, apart from being trained to detect and preven crime. Mugenyi said similar programmes were going on in other parts of the country long before the election period began.
“Many communities that have community policing programs have not only become safer but also stronger.
This can be evidenced in communities like Muyenga, among others. Globally, countries like the USA, UK, Japan, Singapore and Canada have invested and benefited heavily from community policing,†he said.
Provision of polling constables, Mugenyi added, was the duty of Police and requested by the Electoral Commission.
“The recruitment of 18,000 polling constables was to beef up the Police during the voting period. Apart from elections, Police has to continue with other constitutionally mandated duties, yet Uganda has more than 23,000 polling centers,†he said.
Army spokesman Felix Kulaigye dismissed allegations that 8,000 recruits were being trained in Kapeka under the command of Gen. Elly Tumwine and another 1,500 in Singo Military Barracks were under the command of air defence and intelligence chief, Brig. Fred Mugisha.
“The last recruitment by the army was February and March. How can anybody link them to Gen. Tumwine? he asked.
THE Police have said the ongoing restructuring, recruitment and training of crime preventers and polling constables is in accordance with the law.
Addressing journalists at the media centre yesterday, the commissioner for community affairs, Asuman Mugenyi, refuted allegations by Inter Party Corporation publicist Margaret Wokuri that the exercise was aimed at establishing militias for the 2011 polls.
“The amalgamation of the Mobile Police Patrol Unit (MPPU) and the Anti-Stock Theft Unit (ASTU) to create a Field Force Unit (FFU) was a resolution of the 20th Police Council in September this year,†said Mugenyi.
“The main aim was to streamline the command and control of the two units, which hitherto were performing similar tasks,†he said, adding that all East African countries had the same formation.
He refuted allegations by Wokuri that 29,000 youth were recruited in Ntungamo district, where First Lady Janet Museveni’s constituency is located.
Mugenyi said the residents requested for community policing when the Inspector General of Police, Kale Kayihura, visited the district in November.
“This has nothing to do with the First Lady. More so, her constituency of Ruhama does not cover the entire district. The participants were drawn from all walks of life regardless of age, religion, political affiliation or ethnic origin,†Mugenyi said.
The volunteers, he noted, were not given any weapons, apart from being trained to detect and preven crime. Mugenyi said similar programmes were going on in other parts of the country long before the election period began.
“Many communities that have community policing programs have not only become safer but also stronger.
This can be evidenced in communities like Muyenga, among others. Globally, countries like the USA, UK, Japan, Singapore and Canada have invested and benefited heavily from community policing,†he said.
Provision of polling constables, Mugenyi added, was the duty of Police and requested by the Electoral Commission.
“The recruitment of 18,000 polling constables was to beef up the Police during the voting period. Apart from elections, Police has to continue with other constitutionally mandated duties, yet Uganda has more than 23,000 polling centers,†he said.
Army spokesman Felix Kulaigye dismissed allegations that 8,000 recruits were being trained in Kapeka under the command of Gen. Elly Tumwine and another 1,500 in Singo Military Barracks were under the command of air defence and intelligence chief, Brig. Fred Mugisha.
“The last recruitment by the army was February and March. How can anybody link them to Gen. Tumwine? he asked.