Stop harassing Opposition, Gen Otafiire tells new police chiefs

“Don’t break the law. Don’t go around beating Kyagulanyi...Besigye, who are in the Opposition. Don’t beat them for having opposite ideas,” Gen Otafiire said yesterday at police headquarters in Naguru, Kampala.

Gen Otafiire made the directives during the installation of Mr Abbas Byakagaba as the Inspector General of Police and Mr James Ocaya as his deputy.

The two were appointed by President Museveni a fortnight ago.

While giving directives to the senior police officers, Maj Gen Otafiire said multiparty politics was allowed in the country through a referendum and also put in the Constitution.

“I didn’t like this business of multiparty but the people of Uganda went to the referendum and said they want multiparties. We put it in the Constitution. That is the law. As the police, don’t deal with the Opposition, deal with the bad conduct,” Gen Otafiire said.

Gen Otafiire’s remarks come days after the police blocked NUP events in eastern Uganda. 

The police alleged that the events don’t comply with the standards set for gatherings where law enforcement officers even set the limit of the number to attend the event and what should be talked about in the meeting.

But Opposition leaders insist that their activities are within the parameters of political party laws.

The Opposition accuses the police of acting unprofessionally.

On May 28, the police cleared Mr Kyagulanyi to hold a mobilisation tour of Mukono District. This followed a meeting of NUP leaders in Mukono and the district’s security committee.

Speaking at a press conference in Mukono yesterday, Mr Fred Nyanzi, the NUP national secretary for mobilisation, however, cautioned party supporters against hooliganism during the tour, adding that they should be law-abiding and exercise discipline all the time.

“We don’t want to get into situations which the police would take advantage of to teargas our supporters. But I want you to show vibe [enthusiasm] during the tour,” he said.

At the installation ceremony in Kampala, Gen Otafiire said the police should work within the parameters of the existing laws rather than breaking them.

He said if the laws are weak, the police should inform the politicians, who have the power to amend them.

Mr Byakagaba said he would start by identifying the right people and deploying them in their rightful positions.

“These will include identifying people, who will do the work and place them in the right positions so that it is a complete vehicle well fueled and able to move where you want it to move,” he said.

Mr Byakagaba said he will commit most of his energy to the mindset change of the police officers to be able to have acceptable police and national values.

He said improving human resources and non-human resources areas will be among his priorities since they are critical in the progress of the institution.

He promised to uplift the welfare of the police personnel.

Mr Ocaya said the task ahead of him is challenging but not strange to him given the fact that he has been in the planning directorate of the police since 2006 and the training he got from his previous supervisors.

Mr Ocaya said he worked on the strategic police plan which is being implemented in the force today.

Maj Gen Katsigazi warned the new team that the challenges ahead of them are enormous yet there are meagre resources to counter them.

“We have a challenge of fuel, but our public expects the patrols to be on the road. We have reached an extent that we can’t afford three litres of fuel per vehicle yet we need to work,” Maj Gen Katsigazi said.

Maj Gen Katsigazi said they are unable to feed even officers in operation due to a shortage of funds.

The police can only give one meal to a police officer per day.

He indicated that the police currently do not have money to feed the police officers until the end of the financial year.

He also talked about accommodation of the personnel which remains unresolved.

Additional reporting by Fred Muzaale

The law. 
I didn’t like this business of multiparty but the people of Uganda went to the referendum and said they want multiparties. We put it in the Constitution. That is the law. As the police, don’t deal with the Opposition, deal with the bad conduct,” Maj Gen Kahinda Otafiire, Ministry of Internal Affairs.

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