The former Inspector General of Police (IGP), Gen Kale Kayihura has said that nobody can rub from his record the fact that the rate of crime reduced during his 12-year-long tenure at the helm of Police.
Kayihura said this on Thursday during an event where he officially handed over his office to the new IGP, Okoth Ochola.
The General who has presided over the Police since 2005 arrived at the Naguru Police headquarters dressed in a ceremonial military attire.
In his hand over remarks, Kayihura said that the mere fact that he has become the longest serving Police chief in Uganda is no mean achievement.
“Despite the recent bad image, i am handing over a Police Force that is much better than when I took over. And you can’t dispute that,” Kayihura said.
“The crime situation continues to be on a downward trend compared to 2006. The most important thing in my tenure is – crime went down and nobody can rub that from my record”.
He said that he took over the position of IGP at a time when Kampala was riddled with political tensions arising from opposition leader Dr Kizza Besigye’s return from his exile in South Africa.
Later, police would be faced with a challenge to quell the walk-to-work protests led by Besigye and other opposition politicians in the lead up to the 2006 elections.
“There was intense activity which put pressure on a small Police Force of 14,000 personnel. Everybody [opposition] thought they would do anything they wanted in a multi party dispensation, without Police intervening”.
He attributed the current strength of the Police to investment in building the capacity for intelligence and boosting the human resource from 14,000 officers when he took over to 42,000 today.
He added that Police is now on a solid foundation and moving in the right direction, evident from the achievements that he registered both physically and technologically. Part of the successes Kayihura highlighted were; the construction of the police headquarters, improvement of the welfare of officers and increasing the number of police stations and barracks.
However, Kayihura noted that these achievements notwithstanding, there were shortfalls, which he regretted and apologized for.
“There might be imperfections that the new leadership will improve. I may have fallen short in my assignments and I regret. I am human and I can’t accomplish everything,” he said.
“I really want to apologise if there is anybody I have stepped on, please I am sorry. All I meant was for the good of the country, I did not have a personal problem with any body. I have never had that,” Kayihura added.
Regarding the transition, he expressed gratitude to President Yoweri Museveni for having appointed Ochola and Brig Sabiiti Muzeeyi whom he (Kayihura) believes are of great value.
“I am delighted to be handing over to these two great men. I know them well and they are of great value. Ochola has worked in different capacities and I enjoyed working with him,” Kayihura who was in a jovial mood intimated, adding “Brig Sabiiti is not new to me. I recall the trials and tribulations we went through while he was the Deputy Commander for SFC”.
According to Gen Kayihura, police is still faced with financial inadequacies that need to be addressed. Even though the funding has risen to Shs 540 billion in 2015 from a meagre Shs 86 billion in 2006, this is still inadequate since the bulk of it goes into wages.
While some critics have castigated Kayihura for training and arming millions of crime preventers some of whom have since perpetrated crime, he defended them and commended them for “revolutionizing” the fight against crime.
Several of the officials who spoke at the handover ceremony commended Kayihura for his service and asked that he keeps a close relationship with the Police.
In his speech, the Minister of Internal Affairs, Gen Jeje Odongo praised Kayihura for adding value to the Police both qualitatively and quantitatively.
“I am one of the few people who recognize your role in building the Police. Growing the Force from 14,000 to 42,000 personnel is no accident; but a well planned action,” Gen Odongo told the outgoing IGP.
He described him as a strategic manager who despite the less resources found solutions to these teething problems the Police was faced with.
Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIGP) Asan Kasigye who is the Chief Political Commissar also lauded Kayihura for mentoring the police officers and guiding them to rise through the ranks.
The event was attended by several of the Directors in Police including Grace Turyagumanawe (Peace Support Operations), Grace Akullo (CIID), Ndahura Atwooki (Crime Intelligence), Dr Steven Kasiima (Traffic and Road Safety), Erasmus Twarukuhwa (Human Rights and Legal Services) among others, and some Senior Commissioners.
