Certified safety and security officer for FIFA and CAF, Dixon Okello, has accused the army and police of violating football protocols by deploying personnel inside Mandela National Stadium, Namboole during matches.
He argues that the men in uniform are unnecessary at football matches since trained stewards can handle the situation, unless intervention from the former is absolutely required.
"Trained stewards can always do a fine job.These are FIFA and CAF regulations. No need for guns, tear gas or batons. When you treat fans well,they will always respect football protocols," he stated on X (formerly Twitter).
On some occasions, army and police personnel have been seen stationed around and sometimes inside the stadium to ensure the safety of players, officials, and fans.
However, Article 9 of the CAF Safety and Security regulations provides that police and army personnel should only be deployed as secondary responders to assist stewards inside the stadium when necessary.
The FIFA and CAF security regulations mandate that stewards must be the primary responders to protect players, officials, and fans.
"Stewards should be deployed to act as first responders and they are to be supported by private security guards and the police when necessary to ensure the safety of the general public and the match participants, within the stadium, as well as surrounding environments." CAF regulation states.
Furthermore, based on a risk assessment, CAF rules stipulate that suitable policing measures should be implemented along the routes to and from the stadium, training facilities, airport, and hotels for teams and officials.
However, there have been reported instances where men in uniform have been observed within the stadium premises trying to handle security issues, which Okello claims violates CAF and UPDF guidelines.
Okello asserts that security personnel should only manage crowds at the gates rather than "mistreat" fans inside the stadium.
He also threatened to publicly name and shame senior security officers whom he accuses of being jealous of the steward deployment at Namboole.
"So sad that some senior Security Officers,are envious about the deployment of Stewards at Namboole stadium...We shall name,expose & shame them. Fitina just. The "fitina" officers, should instead work hard to deliver better crowd management at the gates," Okello said.
He added, "Football fans in Uganda must be respected and appreciated at the gates Namboole stadium by all security agencies.They pay to watch matches and must be treated well. We still have a long way to go when it comes to crowd management,simply because our people don't want to listen and learn."