LONDON-UNITED KINGDOM/NEWSDAY: In a mini reshuffle within the security agencies, President Museveni has appointed Major General Abel Kandiho as Chief of Joint Staff of Uganda Police Force. The appointment, which is likely to raise eyebrows because of the alleged notoriety surrounding General Kandiho, comes days after he was moved from the position of Chief of Military Intelligence where he is accused of reportedly overseeing lawlessness including torture and unlawful detentions in Uganda. He has even been singled out by the United States and Rwanda for action, making this appointment all the more surprising.
President Museveni’s regime has presided over the unprecedented militarisation of the Uganda Police for a civilian government, including two previous army Generals serving as the Inspectors General of Police, the highest rank in the force, on two separate occasions: General Katumba Wamala from 2001 to 2005 and General Edward Kale Kayihura from 2005 to 2018. And although the command of the force has since returned to a career police office, Martin Okoth Ochola, he has been deputised by army Generals, who are believed to be the éminence grise (the king behind the throne).
The militarisation of the Uganda Police preceded repeated public display of displeasure by the President, thought to be emanating from the perceived or real sense of professional independence as a civilian force. It would appear that the President was unhappy of its neutral stance and at one point accused it of siding and conspiring with the opposition against him, promising to “sort them” out, something he seems to have followed through with. It would appear that the militarisation would continue apace with the appointment of Major General Abel Kandiho to that senior police pposition.
While it is not clear how much authority and influence that position wields, the fact that it is occupied by Major General Kandiho, a close and trusted Museveni confidant is sufficient to give his sufficient clout to overshadow everyone in the hierarchy and command structure of the organisation. And therein lies the trouble if the man, marked for action, including by foreign powers, seems to instead be promoted and placed in more strategic positions.
Rwanda is said to have been uncomfortable with Major General Kandiho’s status, a fact that is believed to have strained relations between the two countries further – the government in Rwanda is said to accuse him of masterminding the persecution and abuses against Rwandan citizens in Uganda on accusations of espionage. His removal from the position of Chief of Military Intelligence immediately on return from an impromptu visit to Rwanda by the Commander of Ugandan Land Forces and Senior Presidential Adviser on Special Operations, who is also the first son, Lieutenant General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, where he met Rwanda’s President Kagame, was thought to have been a concessionary move on by the Ugandan side. I was believed to be aimed at the easing the tensions between the two countries. Indeed, a Ugandan military captive was handed over to Lt. General Muhoozi by the Rwandese and the re-opening of the Rwandese border with Uganda was announced.
It is unclear how much Major General Kandiho’s new appointment would upset the process, which only today President Kagame said he was keenly monitoring. It is has even somehow complicated Lieutenant General Muhoozi own position who was being projected as a peace broker and negotiator, who had succeeded where even Regional presidents had failed.
No doubt many Ugandans will not only be disappointed and angry that the very least that should be happening to Maj. General Kandiho is being investigated, not appointed in senior security positions, but they will all so be fearful of the future with Kandiho in such a position. The Americans have already made their views about Kandiho known and taken appropriate action, and will be querying the commitment of President Museveni to the upholding and protecting human rights, as well as ensuring accountability is restored in a country that is fast sliding into anarchy and I to the abyss of impunity.
The ongoing militarisation of the Uganda Police Force, is reinforcing its image as a heavily militarised colonial-style regime police force that will likely continue to do the regime’s bidding as discontent and disquiet exponentially against the regime increase. It would appear that President Museveni would ill afford to do without trusted and royal officers such as Major General Abel Kandiho, regardless of his image and reputation. This is a classic trajectory of dictators bent on entrenching themselves in power and securing their legacy regardless until possibly the bitter end.
As police militarisation presupposes the use by law enforcement agencies of military equipment and style, officers are more likely to display violent behavior and are more likely to kill the civilians they are supposed to protect and serve. It is exactly the kind of method President Museveni would need to deploy to hang on power and probably anoint and appoint a successor as his his succession beckons each passing day.
Already several dozen military officers at the rank of Lieutenant Colonels are reported to be attending the Bwebajja Police College in readiness for deployment as Regional Police Commanders. The police militarisation, therefore, will likely intensify in the months and years to come all factors remaining constant.
The writer is a Multilingual Human Rights Practitioner, formerly at the International Secretariat of Amnesty International in London for over 20 years and now Legal and Human Rights Consultant.
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