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	A Professional Police Force Is What We Want Daily Monitor May 23, 2009 http://www.monitor.co.ug/artman/publish/oped/A_professional_police_force_is_what_we_want_85281.shtml Since late last year, the Inspector General of Police, Maj. Gen. Kale Kayihura, has rung up a series of changes that have seen the majority of the senior leaders in the force change station. The changes were aimed at ensuring efficiency in the force, according to the police chief. One of the police departments that saw extensive changes was the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID), which is now headed by Edward Ochom, the former Kampala Regional Police Commander. Mr Ochom, and his two deputies David Magara (in charge of intelligence) and Moses Sakira (investigations), earned respectable track records from their previous positions. However, while it is too early to judge the officers now at the helm in the CID, it is difficult to ignore the fact that the first two high profile cases that the new team has so far handled have not been executed in a manner that bolsters public confidence in the capacity of the force to carry out its very important job to satisfaction. The first case was the May 6 shooting of a yet-to-be-named man at powerful Security Minister Amama Mbabazi’s home in the upmarket Kololo area as he allegedly attempted to climb over the perimeter wall into the minister’s compound. To-date, however, the CID – whose officials started investigating the incident a day after it happened – is yet to make public any information that they have so far known. The latest incident that has left the CID with even more egg-on-face, is the investigation of sodomy accusations against a city pastor. First, early this week, the CID Chief said the police had cleared the accused pastor over the homosexuality charges and arrested the alleged sodomy victim. But within less than a week, the police had backtracked on its own earlier position after President Museveni said he was not satisfied with the way the case was being handled. This erodes the much needed public confidence in the CID. These developments should serve as reminders to the Police Chief – and the government – that turning the force around will not just be achieved by rearranging the office furniture, but by carrying out all-round professionalisation of the force.
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