Africa-Press – Uganda. The Commissioner Immigration and Passport Control in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Brig Johnson Namanya has urged police commanders to use culture to promote peace and security in the country.
“Peace is like oxygen, often taken for granted. If you want to know the effects of its absence, look at the current TV scenarios from Gaza, even Israel when it got some shells from Iran, the scenes on tv from Ukraine and South Sudan where you have so many professors, skilled and technical people who are here as refugees. It is so sad to find a country descending into chaos because some people take peace for granted. You need to guard against chaos because a peace lost is very hard to regain. It is like a house, you take long to build it but it takes a couple of minutes to bring it down with a bomb,” Brig Namanya said.
“Many items cut across different cultures and this helps to decontaminate our minds that anyone’s culture is superior than others. This what Uganda needs for us to respect each other’s culture and promote peace and security.”
Brig Namanya was on Friday speaking during a cultural gala for senior police commanders organized by the Police Command and Staff College Bwebajja in Wakiso district.
He represented the Internal Affairs Minister, Gen Kahinda Otafiire.
During the gala, the police commanders who are undergoing a senior commander’s course showcased various cultural aspects.
Speaking during the function, Brig Namanya said when the whites came to African, they dissuaded Africans against their own cultures yet a number of aspects in the African cultures are of great benefit.
He insisted that the country’s cultural diversity can be used to help promote peace and security.
AIGP Hadijja Namutebi, who represented the Inspector General of Police, Abbas Byakagaba underscored the role of culture in promotion of peace and security.
“Culture is more than the spectacle of drums and colour but teaches norms before laws, builds loyalty before rank. In every clan and tribe in this country, there are long standing customs governing dispute resolution, community cohesion and communal responsibility and these preceded modern state and shaped moral compass of communities we lead,” AIGP Namutebi said.
She urged commanders to use the cultural diversity that Uganda enjoys to ensure peace and security.
“Security is not exclusive preserve of the gun, uniform or force number but cultural, built through trust, dialogue and mutual respect all cultivated within cultural networks.”
AIGP Namutebi hailed the Bwebajja police staff college commandant for organizing the enriching cultural gala.
The Police Human Resource Development Director, AIGP Moses Kafeero said the message of respect for cultural diversity should be preached not only to commanders but also their subordinates.
“As commanders, we also need to cascade this information to the troops we lead, now that the biggest number of the troops we lead are youths. They need to hear this. When you go back to the troops you lead, tell officers on how respect for culture helps ensure social economic transformation and peace and security,” AIGP Kafeero said.
“As we go out policing the community, let us also tell them the value of culture. This should not only go to the police personnel we lead but also communities we serve.”
The Commandant of the Police Senior Command and Staff College, Bwebajja, is ACP Barbra Alungat said the cultural gala was meant to enable law enforcement officers reflect on cultural diversity as assets to promote peace and security in the theatre of operations
“If we respect culture of people we serve and harness positive culture, we can have peaceful and secure communities.Culture has evolved in social, political, environmental, and many spheres of life using a security human approach.When guns go silent we can have peace beyond conflicts,” she said.
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