Brutality: Police to hold individual officers liable

The Uganda Police Force will hold to account individual officers accused of using excessive force against civilians during the presidential age limit consultations.

Police Spokesman, Asan Kasingye, said they have received complaints from Members of the public implicating some officers for using excessive force on unarmed civilians.

Kasingye said officers are trained to respond to situations in the same measure while managing crowds.

Police have increasingly come under public criticism for excessive force while breaking up opposition consultative meetings.

During the consultative meeting in Rubaga South, some police officers were seen firing live bullets in the crowd as opposed to firing in the air or using rubber bullets.

We saw one of the commanders restraining an officer from aiming at the crowd.

But Kasingye insisted that the officers are briefed to work appropriately before they are deployed.

Recently, Vincent Ssekate, the spokesperson of the Professional Standard Unit, said they would look into the conduct of their officers during the Rukungiri district clashes between opposition supporters and police that claimed the life of person.

Chaos broke out after police blocked Dr. Kiiza Besigye, the former Forum for Democratic Change presidential candidate from accessing Rukungiri Stadium. This infuriated opposition activists leading to violent clashes with the police.

This is not the first time police is promising to holding individual officers accountable for operational mistakes.

Last year, the deputy Inspector General of Police Okoth Ochola announced that individual police officers would have to pay fines resulting from complaints of torture and misconduct.