Ochola orders six Police directors to vacate office after expiry of their contracts

The Inspector General of Police, John Martins Okoth Ochola has ordered six police directors at the rank of AIGP to hand over offices to their deputies awaiting renewal of their contracts.

The Internal Affairs Minister, Gen.Jeje Odong early this month wrote to Ochola to allow the police directors whose contracts have expired stay in office until the Appointing Authority (President Museveni) decides otherwise.

However, Ochola seems not to have heeded to the advice by the Minister and ordered the directors out of office as they await Museveni’s decision.

“Records available indicate that your three years contract that was offered to you on November 21, 2016, expired .It is on record that you applied for the renewal of the same, which process has not been concluded. As we await the result of the renewal process, you are to handover office to your deputies,” the January 23, 2020 letter by Ochola reads.

This website understands that Ochola first communicated the decision on Wednesday during the Police Advisory Committee (PAC) meeting that usually sits at Naguru every week.

“The IGP said if Police needs them, they will be called,” a senior police officer who attended the Wednesday PAC meeting told the Nile Post.

This website has also learnt that some of the affected directors are set to hand over their offices tomorrow, Saturday to their deputies.

Affected

The affected six police directors at the rank of Assistant Inspector General of Police whose contracts have expired and are affected by the latest developments include Haruna Isabirye(Human Resource Development), Lemmy Twinomujuni(Welfare and Production), Francis Rwego(Special Interpol Representative to the African Union), Joseph Mugisa(Fire and Rescue Services), Erasmus Twaruhukwa( Legal Services) and Stephen Kasiima(Traffic Police).

The development comes barely two months after the High Court ordered the police director in charge of Logistics and Engineering, AIGP Godfrey Bangirana, to vacate office until a case in which a private individual is challenging his continued stay in office when his contract is now yet renewed after expiry.

Following the advice by Internal Affairs Minister to Ochola asking that the directors be allowed in office until a decision from President Museveni is communicated, a lawyer wrote to the IGP threatening to drag to him to court over the same.

“It has come to our client’s knowledge that you continue to shelter, give working premises and assign official government duties to these individuals whose tenure of office in Uganda Police has long expired. They have no mandate in law to execute duties purportedly on behalf of Uganda Police or government of Uganda,” the January 13 letter by lawyers from Credo Advocates to Ochola read in part.

Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIGP) is the third-highest rank in the structure of the police force and officers at the rank who clock 45 years of age and above work on three- year contracts but are renewable.

https://nilepost.co.ug/2020/01/14/minister-writes-to-igp-ochola-to-allow-out-of-contract-police-directors-stay-in-office/