Uganda’s president Yoweri Museveni has replaced the
security minister and police chief in the country, following a spate of
murders and kidnappings that have rocked the East African nation.
The president tweeted the news, saying he was appointing
General Elly Tumwine as Security Minister and Okoth Ochola as Inspector
General of Police (IGP).
‘‘In exercise of powers granted to me by the Constitution, I
have appointed Gen Elly Tumwine as the Security Minister. I have also
appointed Mr Okoth Ochola as the Inspector-General of Police. He will be
deputised by Brig Sabiiti Muzeei,’‘ read the president’s tweet.
General Elly Tumwine replaces General Henry Tumukunde while Okoth Ochola who has been the deputy IGP replaces General Kale Kayihura.
Ochola will now be deputised by Brigadier Sabiiti Muzeei who has been the commander of the military police in the country.
The tweet was the climax of the president’s impassioned
reassurance to Ugandans that the latest wave of crime would be solved by
the government, just like armed rebellion and other problems have been
solved in the past
The president, who has repeatedly called for the installation of CCTV cameras in urban areas as a means of fighting crime, recently added that it is time for Ugandans’ palm prints and DNA details to be captured to aid the fight against crime.
He was at the time speaking to mourners at the funeral of 28 year old Susan Magara who was kidnapped and brutally murdered.
Magara brought the number of unsolved women murders in Kampala and its suburbs to 24 within six months.
Kayihura fails and pays the price
General Kale Kayihura had served as the IGP
since 2005 and was described by his critics as the man who made the
national police force partisan, as he oversaw the chaotic 2006, 2011 and
2016 general elections.
Seen as a loyal cadre to President Museveni and the ruling
party, Kayihura had withered several storms as activists called for his
resignation and even prosecution for human rights abuses committed by
the police force.
His credentials were however severely damaged in March last
year, when the president publicly rebuked him and asked him to ‘clean
the police force’ that Museveni said had been infiltrated by criminals.
The remarks followed the brutal murder of Assistant IGP Andrew Felix Kaweesi.
At the time Kayihura and Tumukunde were fired, they were
perceived to be at loggerheads as the Internal Security Organisation
investigated and arrested several senior police officers believed to be
working with criminals.
The new security chiefs
General Elly Tumwine is one of the ‘historicals’ who fought
with President Museveni during the Liberation struggle that brought the
ruling National Resistance Movement into power.
He was commander of the National Resistance Army between
1984 and 1987, and is one of the highest ranking officers in the army.
He is one of the representatives of the army in the national parliament.
Appointed to the position of Deputy IGP in 2011, Martin Okoth Ochola has a reputation of being a disciplinarian within the police force.
Africanews
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