Police for hire

Police is cheap

Because of the high fees involved in hiring a police guard legally, many well-to-do persons often choose to conspire with lower police commanders who provide security illegally.

The practice now appears to be widespread. It seems a good percentage of police personnel are being diverted to guard those with money. The money they pay also goes into the pockets of police top brass.

According to people familiar with the transactions, the deal is usually agreed with the police post or station officer in-charge (OC). They call it catering for the welfare of the police officers.

Some police stations ask for Shs100,000 per police officer guarding an event per day. The more the number of officers needed at an event, the more the money that is paid.

Samson Tinka, a private security consultant, says private security companies licensed to offer close protection have different charges which can go up to Shs900,000 per guard assigned. On the other hand police bodyguards are cheaper.

According to police regulations, a person who goes through the right channels to get police security pays Shs24,000 for each officer per day. So in a month, about Shs 720,000 must be paid. For escort duties that do not go beyond eight hours, the guarded person pays Shs12,000 per day.

“But there are ministries and agencies which pay the above fee and then go an extra mile to give individual police guards allowances of up Shs400,000. The only concern is that apart from counterterrorism police guards, there are times when regular police officers offer close protection services yet  they are not regularly retrained or unskilled to offer this service, given that we are living in an ever changing security environment,” says Tinka.

Some police officers The Independent spoke to in confidence said in most cases of illegal deals, the police guards are simply ordered to go and provide security without being given any welfare allowance. They said it is often out of the benevolence of the event organisers that they get some water or food or transport.

“Sometimes the commander will enter into agreement worth millions of shillings,” said a police officer who works in the Uganda Police VVIP unit, “but you will be simply ordered to report on duty, an order has been issued; and you know in our security forces once a superior officer gives an order, there is no debate.”

Police boss reacts

The habit of local police commanders illegally assigning officers that are meant to protect the general public to guard private businesses or residences has become so common that in August 2018, soon after taking over as the IGP, Martins Ochola recalled police officers who had been deployed to guard private individuals, their homes or businesses. He said the practice was leaving police stations and operation undermanned.

In February that year, two police constables, Ambrose Otim and Vincent Habiyaremye, were shot dead by unidentified criminals and their guns robbed at Kizza Zone, Kawempe Division in Kampala City at night.

Police investigations revealed that their supervisor had deployed them to guard a private construction site without going through the lawful procedure.

In another incident in September 2017, two police officers who were providing illegal guarding for a confectionary van that was collecting money from clients were shot dead and their guns taken by unidentified attackers at Kalerwe, Kawempe Division.  Again investigations revealed that the area police commander had been offering police guards to the confectionary for more than a year and the company was paying money directly to him. He would share it with his subordinates.

Before Ochola, his predecessor, the former Inspector General of Police, Gen. Kale Kayihura, had said the number of officers illegally deployed to guard business people and the famous in Kampala Metropolitan Police was half the strength of that territorial command; which was then around 4,000 to 5,000 officers.

He then ordered all those officers attached illegally to the business people and politicians to be withdrawn.

Currently, there are 43,000 police officers in the country but the force needs at least 80,000 officers to effectively execute its mandate. Kampala Metropolitan area that covers Kampala City, Wakiso and Mukono districts takes nearly 51 per cent of the total police personnel. But the habit of hiring out police guard illegally has not stopped.

In the last 10 years, the strength of the Very Important Person Protection Unit (VIPPU) has grown from 1,746 officers to over 3,500-4,500. The VIPPU is supposed to protect people entitled by law to close police protection such as the Speaker of Parliament, ministers, diplomats, judges, senior security officers and top managers of government agencies.

Another police unit whose numbers are increasing is the Presidential Protection Group (PPG) that protects the Vice President, Prime Minister, relatives of the First Family and specific individuals close to the presidency.

The PPG now protects varied people ranging from Allen Kagina, the executive director for Uganda National Roads Authority, to Bryan White, a city socialite, and even the likes of Sipapa.

According to the United Nations standards, there should be one police officer for every 450 people. Currently there are approximately 41,072 UPF officers for an estimated population of about 40 million Ugandans. This equates to one police officer for every 1000 Ugandans.

Generally, there is a shortage of police officers for crime prevention, detection and overall maintenance of law and order. Yet two major units; the VIPPU and PPG that secure a privileged few make up more than 10 per cent of the entire police force strength.

In March, Police IGP Martins Okoth Ochola ordered the withdrawal of all police officers deployed to guard the homes of Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) directors and other installations.

IGP Ochola argued that “under the public service standing orders, it is not indicated that the KCCA directors are supposed to have police guards.”

That move alone has seen 261 guards withdrawn from KCCA directors, their homes, and the institution’s installations.

Spokesperson Onyango told The Independent that it’s illegal for individual police posts or stations to deploy police officers to guard private individuals or individuals not indicated in the Police Act without express permission of the IGP.

“The right process for persons who need close police protection write to the IGP,” says Onyango, adding that: “The IGP sends a team to assess the threat. When the IGP is satisfied with the reasons given, he gives directives to give that any person police guards. However, they must pay government revenue. A third of it goes into Police Welfare Fund and the remainder into the Consolidated Fund.”

Onyango adds that individuals that make secret guarding arrangements with police post or station commanders risk being arrested and prosecuted. “In case we get persons who have connived with commanders of police posts or stations to illegally get police bodyguards, we charge both the individual and the commander. It’s criminal to do this,” he says. But the abuse goes on.

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