The Inspector General of Police, John Martins Okoth Ochola has said more gazzetted officers who missed out on the latest promotions are being processed for promotion.
Commenting about the recent promotion of 1638 gazzetted officers at the ranks of Senior Commissioner of Police, Commissioner of Police, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Senior Superintendent of Police, Superintendent of Police and Assistant Superintendent of Police, Ochola said this will not be the end of promotions as more are in the offing.
“Promotions are going to be carried out in a more regular, credible, transparent and equitable manner to strengthen command and control as well as address career growth in the Uganda Police Force,” Ochola said in his message to the officers.
The IGP also gave hope to other officers who were not promoted in the latest batch that since the process is regular, they should not lose hope but continue with their work since more promotions are coming.
The IGP also urged officers not to look at promotions as a personal achievement but as an enhancement which comes with added duties and responsibilities
He urged them to take their responsibilities seriously in the interest of safety and security of all Ugandans and visitors in the country
“We expect the promoted officers to rejoice in their new ranks. We expect them to undergo further training to fit their role and ranks to help enhance leadership capacity of the police force at the middle, senior and advanced levels,” Police spokesperson, Fred Enanga said.
Otafiire fumes
The development comes on the backdrop of comments by the Internal Affairs Minister, Gen Kahinda Otafiire over the police promotions.
Speaking during the announcement of the promotions, Gen Otafiire said that it is appalling that in the past, many officers spent long without being promoted.
“I don’t want to blame anybody but there was general misunderstanding on one hand by police administration and on the other hand by public service. There was a tendence to treat police like another civil service sector of government. This is an armed force. People serving in an armed force must and should be recognized. We discovered there was a graduate engineer who had and Assistant Superintendent of Police for 27 years with nothing adverse on her file. That is unfair,” Otafiire said.
“She deserves recognition. There was another one who had spent 25 years yet he had done nothing. When you ask, they tell you there is no place to put them. If you don’t know where to place me, why do you have me? Either you promote me or send me home. I am either useful or useless and if I am useless, I should go home. If I am useful, I should move(promoted),” Otafiire said.
The Internal Affairs Minister however said since he came into office, this has been rectified and that promotions will now be more regular.
Last year, President Museveni in his capacity as the commander of the armed forces and on advice of the Police Authority promoted 773 gazetted officers, the first in a period of six years since 2016 when the same was done during the time of Gen Kale Kayihura as the police chief.
