{UAH} The Observer - Kayihura 'pleads' to remain IGP
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The Observer - Kayihura 'pleads' to remain IGP
Friday, 29 August 2014 06:38
Kayihura's contract expires on November 10, 2014.
In his eight-page letter dated July 17, 2014, the police chief says the force still needs his leadership because it has reached a delicate phase that requires continuity (see full letter).
"The major challenges are to acquire a critical mass of personnel, and minimum number and variety of equipment to build a modern and effective institution. In particular, we have the task of building modern and effective policing systems," he writes.
The Police Authority is the highest decision-making organ of the Uganda Police Force. It is chaired by the IGP. However, when a matter concerning the IGP comes up for consideration, the secretary to the authority takes charge. Alfred Ongom, a police commissioner, currently occupies this role. Insider police sources told The Observer yesterday that the authority is supposed to initiate the process of renewing Kayihura's contract.
Once the Authority is satisfied with the performance of the IGP, it writes to the president seeking his/her approval for a contract renewal. Once the president approves the renewal, parliament does further vetting. Kayihura has served as IGP since November 2005. Should his contract be renewed, he would get a third term and inarguably become the longest-serving IGP in recent times. In the improbable event that the contract is not renewed, Kayihura could be redeployed back in the army. Kayihura still serves as a military assistant to the president.
There has been speculation that the police chief could replace the departing Allen Kagina at Uganda Revenue Authority. Earlier, police sources said Kayihura had notified close associates that he would soon be moved. Other security sources told The Observer months ago that President Museveni planned to transfer Kayihura but they were not sure to where.
According to these sources, Kayihura had been given a rare Museveni privilege of being told to wind up his business in the force. It is not clear if Kayihura's letter was meant to forestall such a transfer. What is clear is that his heart is still with the police. He says the journey of transforming the force into a modern, professional, service-oriented, pro-people, and effective institution, remains unfinished. He would want to stay on and see this done.
The police chief then goes on to highlight his achievements such as the dramatic expansion of the police force, the increase in the annual police budget (from Shs 71bn in 2005 to Shs 412 billion today) and establishment of the police training school in Kabalye, Masindi.
Yet the major reason why he would want to stay on as IGP, he writes, is to complete the operationalization of the continent-wide police force, AFRIPOL (Africa Police). He co-chairs an ad hoc committee set up to see how best the force can be made operational within the shortest time.
"Given the confidence and trust that my colleagues, the African police chiefs, have put in me, I request that my contract is extended so that I fulfill my pan-African obligations," he writes.
Kayihura couldn't be reached for a comment yesterday. But sources close to him suggest he has already told the president he wants to stay on as IGP.
Hero or villain?
Public opinion remains divided about Kayihura's performance. Some people mainly in the opposition accuse him of militarizing the force and turning it into a partisan institution while others commend him for a job well done.
In a stinging letter in June, 2014, a retired police officer accused Kayihura of, literally, killing the police as a civilian law-enforcement agency. Herbert Rheno Karugaba, who retired at the rank of senior assistant commissioner of police, wrote that Kayihura had taken the Uganda Police Force on "a roller-coaster" of partisan policing never seen before.
"You [Kayihura] have turned the UPF from a civilian law-enforcement agency into a highly-militarised goon squad specifically aimed at controlling the grey area between what constitutes 'crime' and 'politics," the June 12 letter partly reads.
Karugaba was a classmate of Kayihura at Makerere University Law School in the late 1970s. He joined UPF in 1980 and served for 18 years. He rose to become director of the then Criminal Investigations Department (now CIID) in the early 1990s. But Polly Namaye, the deputy police spokesperson, said yesterday that Kayihura had served with distinction and honour and deserves to continue as IGP.
"Even his critics will appreciate that he had done a lot. He has transformed the image of the police and professionalized it. Right now, you feel proud to serve in the force unlike some years ago. Today there are many engineers, lawyers, doctors and people of other professions in the force," Namaye said.
ekiggundu@observer.ug
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