By: Ismael Kasooha
KAMPALA
The Uganda Police Force has requested for an allocation of sh2.5 trillion to fully implement the sub county policing model.
This follows a directive by President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni to expedite the process to establish a police station in all the sub counties across the country in a bid to secure the people and their property.
This was revealed by the Inspector General of Police, Abas Byakagaba on Thursday while meeting the Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja at her office in Kampala to expedite the President’s directive.
Currently, the entire police force is composed of 51,961 men and women but only 44,639 are eligible for deployment to Sub counties, districts and regions.
Because of the increasing demand by Ugandans to protect them with their properties, the President issued an Executive Order in 2023 to ensure that a police station is set up in all the sub counties across the country.
The President in effect guided that every Sub county/Municipal/Town council be turned into a Police Station with all Uganda Police Force capabilities to respond to policing needs of the people. For some time, policing services have been concentrated in the urban centres, leaving the rural areas with inadequate or no police presence.
Byakagaba said that in order to implement this directive, the Uganda police Force has requested for an allocation of sh2.5 trillion to fully implement the Presidential Executive order.
“We have so far implemented approximately 41% of the Presidential directive but we are short of money to fully cover all the sub counties. We need at least 10,000 men and women to cover all the sub counties,” said Byakagaba.
However, in the short time, the police urgently require sh417 billion before the end of this financial year.
The Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja said the President wants this done with immediate effect to protect Ugandans if the Parish Development Model is to succeed.
“This is very urgent because wherever the President has gone during his Wealth Creation crusade, the Wanainchi are complaining of theft of their animals and property which is affecting the implementation of the Parish Development Model (PDM). Some have gone to extent of sharing the same house with their animals to protect them from thieves,” said Nabbanja.
Nabbanja tasked the Permanent Secretary and Secretary to Treasury (PSST) Dr. Ramathan Ggobi to immediately provide funds to police to implement the presidential directive.
The Uganda police has partially implemented President Museveni’s directive to set up fully functional and equipped police stations in all 2,190 Sub Counties, Municipalities and Town Councils countrywide.
Byakagaba, said that every Sub County, Municipality and Town Council will have a Police Station with 18 personnel to increase the police presence and ensure security at the lower levels state administration.
The Sub County Police Stations shall have an Officer in Charge (OC), 12 General Officers, 1 CID Officer, 1 Crime Intelligence Officer, 1 Child and Family Protection Officer and a Community Liaison Officer.
Each Sub County Police Station will be equipped with three motorcycles, radio communication and a Counter Telephone whose number shall be extensively publicized such that communities get to know it.
Byakagaba said that the implementation of the Sub county policing model is on-going in 9 Police regions that include North/West Nile, Rwizi, Kiira, Rwenzori East, Sipi, Greater Masaka and Greater Bushenyi/Albertine regions in a phased manner.
He said the Uganda Police Force has deployed about 10,000 personnel to those regions adding that the entire country shall be covered soon.
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