04/08/2014
The Uganda Police Force is to recruit 5,000 officers in a one-week exercise starting September 1.
The Kampala Metropolitan Police Commander, Andrew Felix Kaweesi, said the recruitment drive is to bolster the Force to ensure effective policing of the 2016 general elections.
“The last elections were marred with incidents of violence. And recently we have got information that the opposition with some civil society organizations are plotting to block the general elections through violence. The recruitment will enable us counter all those threats,” Kaweesi explained.
The Kampala Police chief made the revelation at the passing out of a total of 1,000 crime preventers from areas of Mukono, Kira Division, Nagalama, Jinja Road Police Station and Kira Road Police Station who had gathered at Kira Road Police Station play grounds on Sunday.
Kaweesi also noted that there is a group of people led by Kampala Retired Bishop Zac Niringiye planning to disrupt peace in the city in a demonstration dubbed ‘Walk To Freedom’.
“A move to block the general elections is fighting the constitution, something our job does not allow, so we have to be prepared.
We allowed the opposition leaders and civil society organizations to go round the country over the electoral reforms; they are now planning to misuse that liberty to cause unrest. We are ready to suppress them, the way we did in their first attempts,” he said.
He said the recruitment will also help reduce rampant incidents of crime in the country and improve police to population ratio.
“We hope that the recruitment will help plug the attrition in the police force which stands at over 1000 annually as a result of death, retirement, desertion and dismissal of personnel,” he said.
Kaweesi said the applicants must be Ugandan citizens with the minimum qualification of Senior Six or its equivalent.
Additionally, they must not have a criminal record and be ready to work long hours.
“Application in triplicate filled in own handwriting and accompanied by photocopies of academic transcripts and certificates, curriculum vitae, three recent passport size photographs and recommendation letters from LC1, LC2, LC3 and RDC should be brought in person at the recruitment centers,” he said.
He called upon the interested candidates to obtain application forms from secretaries to district service commissions or the public service commission adding that they should also fill in the Uganda Police recruitment bio-data forms from the offices of the district commanders.
The regional centers are the Police Training School Kibuli, regional Police headquarters at Jinja, Wakiso, Masaka, Mpigi, Moroto, Gulu, Arua, Hoima, Fort Portal, Masaka, Mbarara, Mbale and Soroti.
