Why police haven’t enforced Museveni’s new security plan

President Museveni believes that the sub-county policing model would put to rest the high crime rate in the country.

At the weekend while touring Busoga region, the deputy Inspector General of Police, Maj Gen Geoffrey Katsigazi Tumusiime, said they are waiting for funding to implement the President’s directive.

“The 18 personnel will be equipped with two motorcycles and a vehicle to respond to the issues of crime once reported in the communities. It’s a directive from the President which is going to be implemented effectively,” Maj Gen Katsigazi said.

During the launch of the police crime report 2022 in February, Inspector General of Police Martins Okoth-Ochola said they were reorganising the deployment of resources based on the sub-county policing model.

“We want to assure the public that in 2023, the focus will be to remodel our process to support the sub-county policing model, welfare enhancement and digitalisation of our processes for enhanced law and order,” IGP Ochola said.

The police budget was reduced from Shs876.4b the previous financial year to Shs845.2b this financial year.

Police spokesperson Fred Enanga told this newspaper on Monday that they carried out a study on the financial, logistical and personnel implications of the sub-county policing model and found out that it can be implemented if funds are available.

“The police management forwarded the report to our minister of Internal Affairs so that he can talk to the Finance Ministry to get us the funds needed for the new policing model,”  Mr Enanga said.

If the police are to implement the President’s directive, they would need to increase the police stations from 600 to 2,184 [the number of sub-counties/divisions in the country].  According to the police statistics, there are currently around 600 police stations and below them are more than 2,000 police posts.

Going by the President’s preferred police strength at the station, the police would have to deploy 39,300 officers, which is 74 percent of the 53,000 total personnel of the entire police force, to cover only sub-counties in the country.

This leaves the police with only 14,000 officers for other departments such as Field Force Unit, counter terrorism, administration and others. The Very Important Persons Protection Unit alone currently has a strength of more than 4,000 personnel.

The police strategic plan requires 85,000 officers to effectively operate.  This financial year, the police were unable to recruit due to shortage of funds yet the attrition rate from the force is at 1,000 per year.

A police source, who preferred anonymity, said the police strength and resources at their exposal cannot allow them to implement the sub-county model.

The officer said they have 9,400 motorcycles in the entire country, adding that another 4,000 motorcycles would be needed to cover the new arrangement, which leads to increase in fuel consumption and its budget.

On average, each police district command is allocated 300 litres of fuel, much of which is used by patrol cars.

For instance, Nakasongola District, which has nine sub-counties, would require 18 motorcycles for emergency squads and the vehicle fleet, including a patrol car and 18 motorcycles, would have to share the 10 litres of fuel.

However, this financial year’s budget, the police was given Shs46.5b to fuel its 10,245 strong vehicle fleet yet they had asked for Shs205b if each vehicle was to use an average of 10 litres of fuel per day, according to police records.

Another senior police officer said some sub-counties have terrains that are unforgiving that it would be difficult for the police to respond to emergencies on time using motorcycles.

The officer cites the murder of Corporal Alfred Okech and Police Constable Moses Kigongo in an ambush in Busunju, Mityana District, while riding a motorcycle to respond to a fake case in December 2021.

 The model

The sub-county policing model is a paradigm shift from the community policing model that was introduced by the former Inspector General of Police, Gen Kale Kayihura, where police posts were established closer to the community.

In the 2021/2022 Financial Year,  police started a pilot project of the sub-county policing model in Kampala Metropolitan Area and the central region where they closed more than 126 police posts and upgraded posts at sub-county level to police stations.

The sub-county policing model would require additional human resource, funds, accommodation of the officers, feeding, rent of offices and fleet maintenance.