Maverick police officer, Muhammed Kirumira, faces expulsion from force

Muhammed Kirumira, the District Commander for Buyende, is no stranger to controversy.

Throughout his working life, Kirumira has courted controversy at times with reckless abandon, making him a journalist's dream.

He has pursued highway robbers, apprehended phone thieves, confronted but most importantly, he has clashed with the police establishment over his work methods.

His superiors have always questioned his relationship with the media, saying he works only under the glare of journalists.

Now, he is in deep trouble. Again.

The Police tribunal yesterday charged him with six counts of torture, corruption and extortion among others.

Some of these charges are more than four years old, which raises questions of why it has taken long for police to charge him.

“While still the OC at Old Kampala police, the accused arrested Aramathan Kakooza and beat him before extorting shs350,000 from him,” read part of the charge sheet.

It is also alleged that Kirumira beat Ibrahim Bukenya, a hawker while still at Old Kampala Police station before he allegedly demanded Shs 250,000 to set him free.

At the moment, Kirumira appears to be in a tight spot and should he be found guilty, the maverick police officer could be expelled from the force.

Kirumira's 99 lives

Yet, Kirumira, like a cat, appears to have 99 lives.

In 20014 when he accused a number of police officers of conniving with rackets of hard core criminals to terrorise the city, the police leadership came down hard on him.

He was suspended before they slapped charges of soliciting bribes from suspects at Nansana police station.

He ran to the public court, where he received a lot of sympathy and support.

With residents threatening to demonstrate over the continued vilification of their police hero, Kirumira was sent for a refresher course at the Uganda Junior Command and Staff College at Gaddafi barracks, in Jinja.

Shortly after he was carted away to Bwera, Kasese district, where he headed a police station.

There he impressed his bosses and in 2016, he was moved back to Kampala as DPC of Old Kampala Police Station.

In a couple of months he was back to his old self warning petty thieves in his area of jurisdiction to repent their sins.

Soon, he would display phones and other items that he said had been recovered from thieves along the dreaded Namirembe road.

Just as he was beginning to ingratiate himself with the public, he was transferred to Buyende as district police commander.