Africa-Press – Uganda. Six police officers were Monday detained at Bukwo District Central Police Station after 10 suspects escaped from custody.
The Sipi Regional police spokesperson Fred Chesang, confirmed the incident, saying the circumstances under which the suspects escaped from the cells are still under investigation.
“We are investigating how they escaped, who aided them, was there police connivance or its structure. We have dispatched a team from Criminal Investigations Department (CID) and Crime Intelligence officers (CI) to hunt for the escapees,” Mr Chesang said.
“Three of the suspects are on capital offences, six on theft, while one was charged with failure to provide necessities to his family. We are working hard to see that these are re-arrested and charged for escaping from police custody alongside their original cases,” he added.
He further appealed to the community to collaborate with police to apprehend the suspects.
The Resident District Commissioner for Bukwo, Mr Samuel Mpimbaza Hashaka, blamed the incident on corruption within police, which he said has exposed the force’s weakness.
“We had that unfortunate escape of suspects. We have a problem of Corruption in the Police Force in Bukwo District. Sometimes they mishandle cases,” he stated.
Mr Hashaka, who heads the district security committee, said preliminary investigations indicate that some police officers opened a cell at night.
Several jail breaks are reported in Uganda annually with President Museveni recently attributing such acts to “corruption within security systems.”
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