Police to use military tactics, says Kayihura
http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Police+to+use+military+tactics++says+Kayihura/-/688334/1429748/-/wmt8y6/-/index.html
By ALFRED TUMUSHABE & PAUL ARUHO
Posted Monday, June 18 2012 at 00:00
The Uganda Human Rights Commission Chairperson, Med Kaggwa yesterday warned Inspector General of Police Lt. Gen. Kale Kayihura against his declared wish to further militarise the police.Mr Kaggwa told Daily Monitor that the army and police are distinct institutions both in set up and roles.
Mr Kaggwa observed that the IGP’s proposal to have military tactics and formations as part of the Force doctrine is not only counter to global police practice but also a “really disturbing” development.
“Police have their training—where they are taught how to deal with (rowdy) crowds and demonstration. And so they do not need military training to do that,” said the country’s top human rights defender in a telephone interview during which he intimated that the Commission had heard about these plans to introduce overt military tactics in the Uganda Police. “Military training is for the military and not the police. World over I have never seen something like that. And we think this is something that is counter-productive.”
Lt. Gen. Kayihura on Thursday told police commanders at a workshop in Bushenyi, western Uganda, to adopt military tactics to counter what he referred to as negative forces such as rowdy demonstration (crowds), terrorism and rebels, among other threats.
The police chief said currently the police handles the aforementioned threats with the mentality of a civil service bureaucrat, rendering it weak and vulnerable to attacks by what he repeatedly referred to as negative forces. “We are dealing with military-like threats, we must use military organisation to defend ourselves and also be able to operate and defend people,” Lt. Gen. Kayihura said.
He suggested that police should embrace military formations like military platoons, a system that facilitates control and command.
He said in that attack the police fled like civilians, something he never wants to ever happen again.
“Rebels find it easy to attack police stations unlike a military unit, no matter how small it is,” he said.
He intends to see through his proposals before the calendar year ends, he said.
The IGP, himself a Lieutenant General in the UPDF, has since 2005 when he replaced Lt. Gen. Edward Katumba Wamala (another soldier), as the IGP been under a lot criticism for what is considered the militarised and partisan conduct of the police which regularly tops the list of state institutions where human rights abuse, including torture, is rife.
Under him, the political opposition has also come under repeated harassment from the police almost whenever they have attempted to hold public rallies.
The police’s ruthless clampdown on opposition-led walk-to-work protests against the rising cost of living in which at least 10 people were shot dead and scores injured last year, saw President Museveni naming Lt. Gen. Kayihura a true NRM cadre although the police is, by law, required to be non-partisan.
“Just look at the manner in which the police is already handling demonstrations—these proposals are just to formalise the brutality that the police is already using in discharging crowds,” Mr Crispy Kaheru, the project co-ordinator, Citizens Coalition for Electoral Democracy in Uganda, said yesterday.
The IGP is also accused of sanctioning the use of excessive force when police deals with unarmed demonstrators in about the same manner that an army would deal with the enemy at the frontline.
The government spokesperson and Information Minister, Ms Mary Karooro Okurut, couldn’t be reached to comment on whether the IGP’s line is the official position of government.
In the same event the IGP took a jibe at his force for unprofessional dressing while on duty.
“You have to dress up in full uniform and failure to do so we are going to punish you. I am giving you one week, to ensure that your dressing and looks are very professional. Your uniform must have your names on or else you will be arrested,” he said.
Mr Hilary Kulaige, Regional Police Commander for Midwestern, explained to the workshop that army comprise of a specific number of soldiers with a section leader or commander who if there is an urgent need is contacted to organise. This is unlike police. The IGP now wants police to be organised in action-ready formations.
Additional reporting by Ismail M. Ladu.
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