KCCA council to investigate operations of law enforcement officers

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Kampala Capital City Council-KCCA Council has resolved to conduct investigations into the irregular operations of law enforcement officers. The resolution stems from a report about the conduct of the officers that was presented by the Central Executive Committee.

During a council sitting on Tuesday, the councilors resolved to conduct investigations into allegations of excessive use of force by law enforcement officers while dealing with street vendors, extortion, confiscating, and destroying vendors’ merchandise.

In the report presented by Deputy Lord Mayor Doreen Nyanjura, the Director for Legal Affairs Caleb Mugisha was accused of exhibiting incompetence and recommended that he is interdicted.

According to Nyanjura, they have often invited Mugisha over the allegations levied on law enforcement officers, but he has snubbed the committee.

There have been complaints about the use of excessive force by law enforcement officers on vendors. The notable case is of Oliva Basemera, a vendor who died in 2017 while she was being pursued by law enforcement officers. The 38-year-old Basemera jumped into the Nakivubo channel and died. Reports of the use of force escalated during COVID-19 period when movement was limited.

The executive committee also recommended that the council expedites the process of enacting the KCCA Law Enforcement Ordinance 2022 which had been tabled earlier for first reading and also pass a resolution for the Authority to establish affordable workspaces for the urban poor among other recommendations.

The Councilor representing Kampala Central II Moses Kataabu proposed that the Executive Director Dorothy Kisaka also be held accountable for the failures of Mugisha since he is under her supervision. Kataabu argued that it would be unfair to pursue Mugisha alone and leave his supervisor out.

But Mikdad Muganga, the Councilor Makerere University said that it was improper for the City Executive Committee to recommend the interdiction of Mugisha without according him a fair hearing.

KCCA is currently working on Law Enforcement Ordinances which shall provide for how the officers are recruited, the training they undertake, and uniform, how they conduct operations, and a code of conduct.

Recently, Executive Director Dorothy Kisaka also announced without details, plans to introduce cameras that will be installed on the officers’ uniforms to enable close monitoring of their actions.

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