Police Director Bangirana given hours to vacate office or be forced out by court

The Police director in charge of Logistics and Engineering, AIGP Godfrey Bangirana risks being kicked out of office by court for failure to do so voluntarily.

In July, the Inspector-General of Police, Martin Okoth Ochola asked Bangirana to vacate office as he awaits his contract to be renewed after expiry.

 In a letter through his lawyers of Kiiza and Mugisha Advocates, Uganda Young Democrats member, Isaac Maddo has written to Bangirana giving him only a few hours to vacate office or proceed with the court procedure that will see him kicked out forcefully.

“You certainly understand that the contract on the basis of which you occupied the office of the Director of Logistics and Engineering expired on July 6, 2019 and the same has never been renewed. Therefore, the continued stay in the same office is illegal, capricious and abuse of office,” reads in part the letter to AIGP Bangirana.

“Your continued stay in office undermines the rule of law, accountability and good governance which tenants of public administration are secured by the 1995 Uganda Constitution.”

In the letter, the police director has been reminded that as a member of the police force whose mandate is to keep law and order, he should be the last person to break the law and cause disorder by staying in office long after expiry of his contract.

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“This is, therefore, to demand that you immediately hand over office as advised by the IGP and also refund all monetary and other benefits you have enjoyed as a result of illegally staying in office after expiry of your term.”

According to the letter also copied to the Inspectorate of Government, Attorney General, Internal Affairs Minister and the Police Professional Standards Unit, AIGP Bangirana is supposed to apologise for refusal to vacate office in time.

Problems

Bangirana’s problems started last month when in a July 19 letter, IGP Okoth Ochola asked the police director to vacate office as he awaits a decision on the renewal of his contract.

“It is also on record that you applied to the Secretary Police Authority for consideration for another renewal which has not yet been done. While we await the decision of the Police Authority, it is only proper that you hand over the office,” Ochola’s letter read in part.

He added that Bangirana should hand over office to Senior Commissioner of Police, Richard Egyegu who is one of his deputy directors.

“Note that your continued stay in office is bound to raise several queries by the head of public service.”

Bangirana has in the past been accused of inflating prices of police supplies in a bid to eat something out of their procurement.

A concerned citizen last year petitioned the Inspector General of Government (IGG) to carry out investigations into a number of deals in the police force under AIGP Godfrey Bangirana, the director in charge of logistics among others including the deal to repair the forces’ chopper in which he was accused of inflating the cost.

The police force had officially been handed the BELL 206B seven-seater chopper made in the US by Yamasec Security Limited, a company that had done refurbishment on the chopper that had been grounded for over 10 years.

During the function to launch it, the refurbished chopper on two occasions failed to start prompting engineers to rush to fix the problem until it, at last, hovered in the skies.

In an August 24, 2018 letter to the IGG and received on 27, a concerned citizen tasked the IGG to look into a number of procurement deals in the Police force overseen by AIGP Bangirana as the director in charge of logistics for the force.

“He has superintended over gross procurement flaws that have not only affected the police force but also the various suppliers who have various contracts with the force,” read in part, the concerned citizen’s letter.

The whistleblower also asked the IGG to look into the construction of Nateete police station which he said has been quoted to have cost shs100bn yet on its ‘face value’ it does not seem to cost more than shs20 billion.

It was also alleged that Bangirana had caused accumulation of debts in excess of Shs100b in the police arising from goods and service the suppliers provided and presided over  supply of police fuel to private individuals causing a financial loss of Shs200b to the force.

The IGG last year confirmed investigations into Bangirana’s illicit wealth were ongoing.