KAMPALA – All 10 Kampala Capital City Authority directors and facilities will no longer be guarded by the 261 police officers, Police spokesperson Fred Enanga has said.
Addressing journalists in Kampala on Monday, March 2, 2020, Mr Enanga said there is no provision under the public service act that KCCA directors are supposed to have police guards.
He added that the directive to withdraw the guards was issued by the Inspector General of Police, Martins Okoth-Ochola.
“The Inspector General of Police informed KCCA that the police guards were to be withdrawn by February 27, 2020 and that they should get private guards. On March, 1, these guards were withdrawn,” he said.
However, he explained that Kampala Lord Mayor Eriasa Lukwago and the KCCA acting executive director, Andrew Kitaka, will retain their guards.
Mr Enanga explained that they are currently manpower shortages in the police force and the officers from KCCA will be deployed to other understaffed areas. Uganda has only 43,000 police officers.
In 2018, it was reported that at least 3,500 police officers had deserted the Uganda Police Force in the previous three years.
Officers, mostly from Field Force Unit (FFU), General Duties, Anti-Stock Theft Unit (ASTU), and Tourism Police, abandoned service between May 2014 and 2017.
