Africa-Press – Uganda. The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr Martins Okoth-Ochola, has directed the Crime intelligence and Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of police to investigate abuse of the Force’s vehicles.
In his message delivered by the Commissioner of Police, Mr Joseph Mugisa, while commissioning the Shs1.5b Rwizi region repair and maintenance centre for police vehicles in Mbarara City on Friday, Mr Ochola said the cars are used to do private work yet the cost of repairing and maintaining them is met by the taxpayer.
“This is to direct you to put in place monitoring and evaluation measures to counter vehicle abuse. Crime intelligence and CID should help the logistics and engineering department to end the vice,” he said.
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“CIDs do not say this is the responsibility of logistics and engineering, you are there to detect crime, prevent crime but are also there to prevent abuse where you get such cases. Take immediate action, and that action should be disciplinary or criminal. It should be able to bite so that the fleet is maintained well,” the IGP added.
Mr Ochola also tasked the regional police commanders to make an inventory of all vehicles, motorcycles, including bicycles that need urgent attention and be fixed immediately.
The deputy Rwizi region police commander, Mr Joseph Kato, said the force finds it a challenge to respond to emergencies because some of their vehicles are in poor mechanical condition.
“The construction of the regional police mechanical workshop in Mbarara is very timely because it will boost the mobility of personnel and logistics hence consistent with the contemporary policing demands,” Mr Kato said.
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He said the regional police has several of its fleet grounded, including 17 bicycles, five vehicles and 22 motorcycles, which affects their operations.
“Though the numbers of functional vehicles are reasonable, many are equally in poor mechanical condition, for example they lack tyres, batteries and other service parts. The emergency vehicles, especially fire trucks and water bowsers have been unreliable,” Mr Kato said.
The acting director logistics and engineering, Mr Felix Baryamwisaki, said the regional maintenance centre will stop officers from taking vehicles to Kampala for repair.
“The objective is to establish a local vehicle maintenance centre for the maintenance of the motorised equipment of the police. We are trying to bring services nearer so that people do not take vehicles for maintenance in Kampala,” Mr Baryamwisaki said.
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The maintenance centre, which sits on an eight-acre piece of land, will handle fleet in the southwestern region, including Greater Bushenyi police and Kigezi.
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