UGANDA, Kampala | Real Muloodi News | In a decisive move, Internal Affairs Minister Maj Gen Otafiire Kahinda has issued a stern three-month ultimatum to the Uganda Police Force, directing them to recommence the construction of housing units for junior officers.
The housing project, initiated in 2016 by then Inspector General of Police Gen Edward Kale Kayihura, aimed to construct 10,000 housing units, starting with a pilot project of 360 units at Naguru police headquarters.
Despite expectations for completion by 2018, these pilot units were only commissioned last year.
Expressing dissatisfaction with the lack of progress, Minister Otafiire mandated the Director for Logistics and Procurement, Assistant Inspector General of Police – AIGP Richard Edyegu, to resume the nationwide construction of these housing units.
Notably, the construction of the 200 units at Mbale police barracks, which commenced a year ago, had stagnated at the foundation level, prompting Otafiire’s intervention during a recent police council meeting.
Addressing the police leadership, Otafiire emphasised the urgency of providing decent accommodation for police officers, declaring, “You cannot have a force whose accommodation is not good.”
Consequently, he set a strict 90-day deadline for the police force to restart the construction of housing units across the country.
Last week, IGP Martin Ochola presented the force’s vision to construct 50,000 houses for personnel, aligning with a commitment to modernise policing through Science and Technology.
However, Ochola highlighted the challenge of insufficient funding that has hindered the force’s ambitions over the past five years.
He stressed the importance of embracing new technological solutions, emphasising the need to transition from policing a non-digitalised population to managing sophisticated crime environments in a digitalised era.
“The UPF Management realised that technology is now the lifeblood of modern policing survival,” Ochola explained.
“As we transform from policing a non-digitalised population to a digitalised and sophisticated crime environment, we need to find and adopt new digitalised and scientific solutions to policing.”
In the context of modernisation efforts, Masaka had been selected as the pilot area for the sub-county policing model proposed by President Yoweri Museveni in 2019.
Minister Otafiire’s ultimatum underscores the government’s commitment to providing suitable living conditions for police personnel and advancing the modernisation agenda in law enforcement.
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