IGP Kale Kayihura addresses MPs at Parliament recently. He has moved all detectives from the House. PHOTO BY GEOFFREY SSERUYANGE

All police detectives attached to the opposition-led anti-corruption committees in Parliament have been given marching orders after a mysterious intelligence brief accused them of being “ideologically bankrupt”.
Police authorities yesterday said the detectives had been recalled in “normal transfers”.
Sources told Daily Monitor that the detectives have also been accused of being “in bed” with the opposition after intelligence reports revealed that they took Shs50,000, Leader of Opposition in Parliament Mr Nandala Mafabi donated to the police officers working in Parliament for Christmas. The news of the sacking of detectives working with the opposition in the fight against corruption has angered Mr Mafabi who accused police leadership of politicising the fight against corruption.
Mr Mafabi said: “This is politics at play. Some people want to provide escape route for their friends who are being investigated on allegations of corruption. They want to kill evidence, otherwise what do they mean by ideological
bankruptcy? The opposition heads accountability committee in the House and we use police to help us investigate some issues because they are professionals.”
As for the money, Mr Mafabi said: “I donated the money and I don’t have any regrets and I will continue to do so as I have always done every Christmas. Christmas is about giving, sharing loving and cerebrating.”
There are about 15 police detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations attached to the parliamentary accountability committees. They assist MPs on PAC, the Committee on State Enterprises, and that of Local Government to carry out investigations before the files are forwarded to the Directorate of Public Prosecutions for action.
Deputy Police Spokesperson Judith Nabakooba yesterday denied there was any foul play in transferring the detectives.
“The new people they are bringing (to Parliament) are also police officers and there should be no need to worry. The ongoing investigations in accountability committees will not be affected. These are normal transfers and there is no foul play,” she said.
All the detectives were reportedly asked to leave without giving them reasons. While Police authorities claim “these are part of the normal transfers within the Force”, PAC Chairman, Mr Kasiano Wadri has accused the police of conniving with the corrupt government officials to frustrate the committees’ fight against corruption.
“Even if these were normal transfers, you cannot remove everybody,” Mr Kasiano said. “How come I was not even consulted yet I am the direct beneficiary of their services?” It would have been reasonable to seek my opinion. It seems there is a plot to frustrate our work. CID officers have been handling high-profile cases of corruption very well but all these are going to stop. This is not right and I am going to write to IGP to explain the motive.”
The accusations in the intelligence brief according to sources, were not mentioned to the affected officers when they met CID Chief Grace Akullo last week. It was in this meeting that the affected officers were told to prepare handover files.
“A decision has already been made to transfer the corruption cases they have been working on to the Special Investigations Unit. They are supposed to handover within three to five days,” a police source said yesterday.
The officer requested not to be named because it was agreed that the transfers should be kept under wraps for unclear reasons. This claim possibly explains why the committee chairpersons, including the Speaker, were not notified.Sources close to CID headquarters said when the affected detectives asked why they were transfer ed when several corruption cases were still pending, Ms Akullo reportedly responded: “I know it is painful, but take it in good faith. There is nothing I can do, a decision has already been made.”
Daily Monitor investigations have also revealed that in January, Police Chief Kale Kayihura posted Mr Paul Tumuhimbise to Parliament to head PAC, replacing Mr David Ngobi. Mr Ngobi declined to comment about his transfer yesterday. Some of the detectives have been posted to Land Division and others in upcountry stations.
However, Anti-Corruption Coalition Uganda’s Executive Director Cissy Kagaba is worried that the transfer of the detectives will hinder probe into graft cases. “If people are going to be transferred because of their ideology, then, corruption will not be defeated,” she said.