Officer demoted for tampering with documents of police constable recruits

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Police disciplinary tribunal has demoted a Police officer from Sergeant (Sgt) to Corporal (Cpl) for tempering with the list of Probation Police Constables-PPC recruits.

The affected officer is Francis Okullo, who is attached to the Police Human Resource Administration (HRA) Directorate.

Police Spokesperson, Fred Enanga, says the officer was found guilty of tempering with the documents of successful applicants to accommodate people who failed the basic tests and opted to bribery.

Enanga said Okullo was tried swiftly after investigations proved his misdeeds leading to his demotion for discreditable conduct.

Discreditable conduct also known as irregular conduct contravenes section 44 (1) code 12 of the Uganda Police Act. An officer can be charged or convicted for discreditable conduct if he or she is found guilty of forgery, bribery, corruption or subjects suspects to inhumane treatment.

Enanga said the documents of the recruited 4500 PPCs and 500 Leaner Assistant Inspectors of Police (AIPs) recruited by the 25 recruitment teams vetted by Inspector General of Police, Martin Okoth Ochola are being scrutinized by police headquarters.

He says the names of the applicants and their papers will be forwarded to Uganda National Examination Board (UNEB) thereafter for verification. Enanga says several PPC applicants especially those who completed their Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) last year presented testimonials claiming UNEB was yet to release their result slips.

Police said that it will also crosscheck with UNEB to ensure the scores on testimonials match with records of the examination body. Police had since 2000 been recruiting Senior Six leavers for PPCs but this year the recruitment was strictly for Senior Four leavers.

A fortnight ago, Enanga explained that S6 Constables were abandoning the Uganda Police force after earning some money by either going for greener pastures in countries like Iraq or going for further studies.

A manpower headcount ordered by the Inspector General of Police-IGP Martins Okoth Ochola revealed last year that close to 5000 constables had deserted the police force in the last five years. Most of them, according to police went for security jobs in outside countries.

Enanga said the desertion of the officers had left a huge gap in policing. The ratio of police officers to civilians is 1052 civilians (1:1052), which is below the United Nations standards of one police officer manning 500 people (1:500).

*****

URN