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Police recover cars officers had registered in own names
Mr Martins Okoth Ochola, the Inspector General of Police addressing journalists in Kampala
What you need to know:
- Detective Assistant Superintendent of Police Charles Twino Mansio, the CID spokesman, said all vehicles were recovered and that they have been re-registered in the name of Uganda Police Force
PARLIAMENT. The police’s Directorate of Criminal Investigations (CID) has recovered police vehicles that senior officers had registered in their names during former police boss Kale Kayihura’s reign. This follows an investigation which took close to a year.
Mr Martins Okoth Ochola, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), ordered the investigation into how seven police vehicles bought for the CID were registered in the names of senior police officers.
Detective Assistant Superintendent of Police Charles Twino Mansio, the CID spokesman, said all vehicles were recovered and that they have been re-registered in the name of Uganda Police Force.
“The officers explained how they registered the cars in their names. Police management was satisfied by their explanation. Therefore, there will be no charges against them,” Mr Twino said. He did not say which explanations the officers gave.
Out of the nine vehicles procured for the CID in 2015 and 2017, only two were registered as police vehicles.
A whistle-blower informed IGP Ochola that the police vehicles registered in the names of senior officers were being used to do work other than what they were procured for.
One of the cars, for example, registration number UAX 788L, is registered in the name of Mr Lemmy Musa Twinomugisha. Mr Twinomugisha, popularly known as Twino, is an Assistant Inspector General of Police and was the director of Parliamentary Police for many years during Gen Kayihura’s reign as the police chief.
The cars
Another vehicle, registration number UAX 831N, was registered in the name of Rogers Muhirwa. Mr Muhirwa is the Undersecretary in charge of Finance in the police.
The other vehicles include UAX 032E, registered in the name of senior police officer Stephen Kagoda Ibanda; registration number UAX 067X (registered in the name of Joseph Nuwagaba) UAX 258V (Lydia Kisembo Ssozi) UAX 960E (Isaac Kyaligonza) and UAX 019J (James Apora). All these vehicles have since changed ownership.
The CID directorate has an acute shortage of transport means that all detectives in charge of districts don’t have vehicles to supervise their officers and visit the scenes of crime.
