{UAH} WHY GEN. LOKECH'S APPOINTMENT AS POLICE CHIEF HAS NOT SOUGHT PARLIAMENTARY APPROVAL

WHY GEN. LOKECH'S APPOINTMENT AS POLICE CHIEF HAS NOT SOUGHT PARLIAMENTARY APPROVAL

By CHANGE OF GUARDS

Last week Uganda's military dictator appointed Gen. Paul Lokech as his Deputy Inspector General of Police (IGP).  He has already assumed office without being approved by Parliament as stipulated by the Constitution under Article 213.  Command of the Uganda Police Force.

(2)       The Inspector General and the Deputy Inspector General of Police shall be appointed by the President with the approval of Parliament. 

Apart from the Constitution, Section 9 of the Police Act mandates the Police Authority to;.

9. Functions of the police authority.

(1) Subject to the Constitution, the functions of the police authority are—to advise the President on the appointment of the Inspector General of Police and the Deputy Inspector General of Police.  

Obviously, the said Police Authority does not exist and the Parliamentary Appointments Committee is in place but Museveni does not respect the Constitution.

The genesis of Gen. Loketch's military career is unknown. During the early 1990s Lokech would hang around then Lt. Col. Fred Tolit who was the figurehead Director of Military Intelligence (DMI) at Basiima House. The substantive DMI director was then Maj. Aronda who oversaw military intelligence in general while Tolit was only concerned with the LRA and then rebel SPLA.  At that time, Lokech was not a staff of DMI and it was even not clear if he was a soldier. He was more of an informer or some kind of Mulebeesi (information peddler) around Col. Tolit over the LRA.  Somehow, he controversially managed to secure an army number and rank and next he was in Congo under Gen. Kazini.  

Since then, Lokech never looked back and held different command assignments and excelled in rank. Parliament has the task of telling Ugandans about Gen. Lokech's military and academic background.  In May this year, he was arrested and briefly detained at CPS after he assaulted and threatened with a gun a female Traffic Officer, ASP Ruth Kobutungyi on Namugongo Road.  The matter was as usual swept under the carpet.  The ugly incident followed that of Gen. Matayo Kyaligonza who in February 2019 had also assaulted another female Traffic Officer, Sgt. Esther Namaganda.  Museveni duped the public when he said; 

         "Recently, we had a retired General slapping a police woman and everyone shouted. Now, that General is facing the law because you are not allowed to slap and bark at people. If you are angry and aggressive, you can ask for permission and we deploy you to Somalia where aggressive services are needed."

Gen. Kyaligonza was charged with assault by the Magistrate's court but he out rightly refused to appear in court and the matter was closed.

Nonetheless, the choice of Gen. Paul Loketch as the substantive police chief fits well into Museveni's designs for the security led electoral process. Lokech will be at hand to unquestionably carry out Museveni's orders to suppress the anticipated political dissent in whatever form it will present itself the same way Gen. Elwelu acted in the November 2016 Kasese massacre.  Gen. Paul Lokech cannot even head a police post but here he is as Inspector General of Police.  Since he has always claimed that the security forces are  being led by educated people,  Ugandans need to know Gen. Loketch's academic background apart from being able to speak English.  What about his military background and training?  Museveni knew very well that if Gen. Paul Lokech was to be subjected to a Parliamentary approval, his appointment would raise a lot of controversy and he opted to ignore the law.   Otherwise, he is illegally occupying the position of Deputy Inspector General of Police and since the military dictatorship has taken root, no one can dare challenge that.

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Rehema
Patriot in Kampala,East Africa:Assalamu Alaikum

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