Kampala
President Museveni’s home district of Kiruhura and Maj. Gen. Kale Kayihura’s district of Kisoro are dominating police recruitment, according to the Force’s current recruitment documents obtained by this newspaper.
The documents, which have been availed to the parliamentary Committee of Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises by a whistleblower, shows how the Uganda police recruitment process of cadet officers is turning into an exclusive club constituted on the basis of political, regional and tribal affiliation.
Entitled “Data Form Cadet Officers 2010/2011”, the documents indicate that districts from the western part of the country have dominated police recruitment, while majority of districts from north, east and central recorded either one or zero person for cadet officers.
For the years 2010/2011, Kiruhura District tops the police conscription radar with 23 cadet followed by Kisoro District with 20 recruits. Ntungamo, which is also home to First Lady Janet Museveni, comes third on the recruitment radar with 19 officer recruits.
Other regions suffer
North, central and eastern districts of Alebtong, Amuria, Bugiri, Gomba, Butambala, Buyanda Buikwe, Luweero, Amuru, Kole, Kween, Manafa, Moroti, Mpigi, Mubende, Namayingo, Namutumba, Ngora, Nwoya and Bukwo had each only one person recruited as a cadet officer, while some districts, especially from the north and east did not appear at all. Cadet training is preserved for candidates with professional academic qualifications such as engineers, doctors, accountants, computer experts and lawyers expected to occupy senior offices in the police.
The Police Director of Human Resource, Mr Richard Biserurwa, however dismissed any insinuation of foul play and said applicants from certain areas did not meet the requirements. “The criteria included a lot of things like affirmative action and professional training,” Mr Biserurwa said. “In some areas a lot of people turned up while in others they did not…Regional balance was, of course, there but because of those variables in some areas it was not possible.”
The document, also obtained by Sunday Monitor, indicates that districts which gave Mr Museveni highest votes gained much in the recruitment. Kisoro District which is topping the recruitment voted Museveni with 94.4 per cent, Kiruhura District 94 per cent, Ntungamo 75 per cent , Ibanda 89 per cent and Bushenyi 75 per cent.
According to the United Nations, the optimum ratio of police personnel to the population for effective policing is 1:450. With a population of 31 million, Uganda’s current ratio is one police officer to 1,722 members of the population.
Mr Reagan Okumu, the chairperson of the parliamentary Committee on Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE), has told Sunday Monitor that he would table the documents to the floor of the House next week.
While accusing Gen. Kayihura of turning the institution “partisan”, Mr OKumu said, “The police institution is now a militia wing of the ruling party. You cannot imagine that most districts in the north and eastern part of the country have no officers on training, yet Kayihura and Museveni’s home areas have more than 40 officers combined.”
Gen. Kayihura, Mr Okumu said, will be summoned to Parliament to explain the criteria he used to recruit many police officers from Kiruhura, Ntungamo and Kisoro districts while sidelining other regions. “My committee has even received information that he (Kayihura) has put most impartial police officers on katebe (forced leave) while promoting those from western Uganda who adore him like a demi-God,” Mr Okumu said. But Mr Biserurwa dismissed Okumu’s accusations, saying the recruitment was based more on professional skills than regional considerations.
“When you are looking for qualifications you do not need to duel much on regional balance,” Mr Biserurwa said, adding, “We wanted only 500 officers but we got about 8,000 applications. In some areas we wanted lawyers and engineers but we couldn’t get them. This is not the recruitment of police constables because it is in the recruitment of constables where we put much emphasis on regional balancing.”