Blood is flowing on the floor at the Headquarters of Uganda Police Naguru as General Paul Lokech makes good his threat to dismiss corrupt officers as he embarks on his mission to clean up the force.
To mark his first one hundred days in office recently since his December appointment as Deputy Inspector General of Police, General Lokech announced that he has compiled a list of over a hundred officer who have been engaging in corrupt practices and they would soon be dismissed from the force.
Now Lokech has finally wielded the axe, and felled 153 officers ranging from the senior rank of Senior Superintendent of Police SSP down to Police Constables -PC. Half of them have already received their termination letters.
The names of the dismissed officers however have not been made public as Lokech has followed the proper procedures to remove them; the process has not been arbitrary.
THe General who is famous for his heroic performance in Somalia under Amisom and more recently is credited with securing the January 2021 general election, has gone through the Police council, the appointments committee and the police authority who have taken the disgraced officers through all the laid down processes, including according them a fair hearing before pronouncing them unfit to continue serving under police.
The corrupt tendencies for which the officers have been sacked include being persistent absent when one is supposed to be on duty; this has claimed 44 officers; another 18 have been sacked over scandalous conduct, six have been dismissed over discreditable conduct and five for neglection of duty.
However, more senior officers from the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police to Assistant Inspector General of Police have not been affected by Lokech’s axe, as the organs he has used are not empowered to sack them. These can only be discharged by the Police Authority, chaired by minister for Internal Affairs.
