Iran, Uganda to partner in combating crime

By Nicholas Wassajja

THE inspector general of police in Uganda and the commander in chief of the police forces of Iran have signed an addendum to a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to among others collaborate and share experience in counter terrorism and narcotic trafficking.

Both delegations acknowledged that there is need for states to cooperate more closely as families with genuine interests for the good of their people in combating global crimes.

The addendum to the MOU among others also seeks to have the two state forces collaborate and share experience in training and training opportunities in marine, traffic, canine, ICT, strategic command (4CI), Special Forces, medical health care and welfare of police officers.

Iranian police chief Brig. Gen. Ismail Ahmadi Moghaddam said that, “we do not only want to help Uganda fight drug trafficking, but we also want to share your experience because narcotics is also a big problem in my country. The biggest central producer of narcotics in the world is shared between our boarders with Afghanistan.”   

Moghaddam also said it is unfortunate that such narcotic criminal groups have exploited African people by using them to transport their drugs and that is why Iran is interested in working with countries like Uganda to combat such crimes because the extent of their damage.

The meeting that signed the addendum over the weekend at the police headquarters in Kampala follows an MOU that was signed between the Islamic republic of Iran and the government of Uganda on 1st March 2007 in Tehran on police cooperation. 

Moghaddam noted that they are cooperating with Uganda because they have an experience that is unimaginable that they want to share with others.

“I want to highlight a few cases that if we work together, you people can avoid getting to that extent. We have been able to detect more than 600 tons of different kinds of narcotics but along the way, we have lost 370,000 troops of police officers in the line of duty to fight drug trafficking in just 30 years,” Moghaddam explained.

While speaking at the function, the inspector general of police Gen. Kale Kayihura said that many of these deals are transacted at water bodies. That is why there is need to step-up marine forces, citing that the visit is a cornerstone to strengthen cooperation in combating global crime.

Kayihura said, “in order to beef up our marine forces that fight drug trafficking, these people are going to turn our marine unit into a coast guard like that of Tanzania.” 

He added that on top of completing the police polyclinic and building a 500 bed hospital that will also be accessed by the public at a fair cost, Iran will also provide technical support to the new garment factory of the Uganda police force by offering further training in fabric testing and tailoring for staff. 

The police spokesperson Fred Enanga told New Vision that in training police nurses and medical officers, a special delegation will be sent first to identify relevant fields of further study so that costs and expenditures to be met by both parties are minimized.

Both parties agreed to identify and attach liaison officers at their respective embassies to enhance coordination in the implementation of the MOU.

Kayihura pledged to have a technical delegation fly to Tehran as early as this week in a bid to kick start implementing the MOU with immediate effect.