Museveni tasks police managers to improve public image

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | President, Yoweri Museveni has tasked the police management to improve the public image of the force by fighting the high crime levels and corruption, which have created bad a perception about their services.

In a message delivered by the Internal Affairs Minister, General, Jeje Odongo during the opening of a two day’s police performance review meeting in Jinja district on Thursday, Museveni asked the police leadership to totally eliminate murders and robberies that have reduced public trust in the institution.

He also asked police officers to shun corruption, saying it has not only tainted their public image, but also affected the performance of individual police officers in their respective area of deployment.

Citing the kidnap of American tourist, Kimberly Endicott together with her Ugandan tour guide, Jean-Paul Mirenge as they drove through Queen Elizabeth national Game Park early last month, Museveni asked police to protect Uganda’s economic interests through ensuring security for all tourists to avoid bad publicity for the industry.

On his part, Odongo raised concern about the increasing cases of cyber bullying by some people who have transformed their social media platforms into forums for belittling and attacking political leaders.  He asked police to find mechanisms of fighting cyber bullying, which he said is growing at high speed.

The meeting, which is being attended by the Inspector General of Police, Martin Okoth Ochola and his deputy, Sabiiti Muzeyi plus all police directors, is aimed discussing the challenges faced by the institution and find solutions of transforming it into a modern police force that operates with full support of the civilian population.

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