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Sacked SPCs withhold uniforms over salary
Police officers block former presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine, and team as they were heading for a campaign meeting in Bushenyi on December 16, 2020. In January, government recruited special police constables to provide security during the election period. PHOTO/DAVID LUBOWA
What you need to know:
- 50,000 Recruits: Government recruited about 50,000 SPCs across the country to provide security during the election period.
- The law enforcers say their March salary was not cleared.
More than 2,000 special police constables (SPCs), who were recruited to provide security during the recently-concluded general election, have refused to hand over their uniforms over unpaid salaries.
They claim that they were discharged from the police force without getting their payment for March.
In January, the government recruited about 50,000 special police constables across the country to provide security during the election period.
The recruits were trained and given a three-month contract. Each constable was entitled to a Shs375,000 monthly salary.
However, in Lango Sub-region, the police constables claim only two months were cleared.
Seven of the affected personnel told Daily Monitor on condition of anonymity that they will never return government stores unless they are paid.
“If they want me to return the uniform, they must first sort me out,” a discharged SPC said last week.
The North Kyoga regional police spokesperson, Mr James Ekaju, however, asked the affected persons to remain calm.
Mr Ekaju said government was processing the payment for the group that was recruited countrywide.
“Now if you multiply Shs375,000 times 50,000, that is a lot of money which the government cannot get easily.
So, let them remain calm and wait for their payment,” he said last Thursday.
He also said police would follow up on whoever refuses to hand in government property.
Mr Ekaju said some indisciplined individuals could misuse the uniforms to extort money from the community.
“If a mother is cooking, you wait for the food to get ready but if you are a stubborn child and you pick the saucepan from the fire and run with it, other children will follow you and beat you up,” Mr Ekaju said.
He encouraged the discharged SPCs to maintain discipline in the community if they are to be absorbed into the police force.
“Police normally carries out recruitment yearly and first priority will be given to these police constables because they have already undergone some basic training. We gave them discharge certificates and that is their recommendation which they should keep very well and use for joining the police force when the time of recruitment comes. They can also use it for joining the army and prison,” he added.
The minimum qualification for joining Uganda Police Force is an O-Level certificate.
