SPEECH OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL OF POLICE AT THE PIPPING CEREMONY OF PROMOTED SENIOR POLICE OFFICERS HELD AT UGANDA POLICE HEADQUARTERS, NAGURU ON 30TH JUNE 2023
– The Deputy Inspector General of Police,
– The Chief of Joint Staff,
– PAC members and other officers present,
– Parents, spouses, children and relatives of the promoted officers,
– Members of the press,
– Ladies and gentlemen.
I take this opportunity to welcome you here on this occasion of pipping the newly promoted officers at the Uganda Police Headquarters, today.
First, I thank the families and friends of the promoted officers for responding to our invitation and the support rendered in the course of their employment.
In the past two years, the UPF Management has promoted over 15,000 personnel to various ranks. The frequency of promotions and numbers of promoted officers would have been more, but there was a backlog created as a result of investigations initiated by the Inspectorate of Government on the previous promotions of 2016.
The investigations by the office of the Inspectorate of Government created a big backlog with dire consequences to our human resource administration and development. For example, currently, this phase has the highest number of promoted officers in the history of the Uganda Police Force, but still, there are many other deserving officers pending.
In this regard, I thank the Appointments/ Promotions Committees and all the relevant stakeholders for the work so far done. At the same time, however, we must address the continued occurrence of the few irregularities, although minor, in the promotion process that continue to dent or threaten the promotion system that we are building.
To have a robust system, demands constant work to improve our Force’s Human Resource management, including Information Technology through building and maintaining a clean data base for our Human Resource. Therefore, I want to emphasise that our immediate goal and task at hand is to integrate technology in our human resource management, above all, to address the few loopholes in the recruitment, deployment, promotion and retirement of our officers.
Similarly, equipping these newly promoted officers with the relevant policing knowledge and skills is our other priority. The Force will continue to conduct several management and career courses. Police Management will be paying particular attention to training. Large-scale training on integrity, ideological orientation, human rights, customer care and general professional conduct should become a regular part of our Forces’ life.
The other most urgent priority is to address the challenge of welfare. As over recent years, we will continue to improve the welfare of our officers. We hope to fully resolve the issue of providing decent housing soon.
A task of particular importance for the UPF Management immediately after this function, will be ensuring that all officers that merit, but were not promoted, are identified and set for promotion in the next phase. It is important to make sure that the promotion process remains transparent and free from manipulation.
As I conclude, I take this opportunity to thank His Excellency the President of the Republic of Uganda for promoting these officers to their various ranks.
I also thank the Honorable Minister of Internal Affairs, other members of the Uganda Police Authority and all the relevant stakeholders for their input in this promotion process.
Finally, I would like to congratulate all of you once again on your promotions. I am sure that you will measure up to the confidence placed in you and will achieve even greater success in your service for the good of our people and country at large.
Congratulations!
J.M. Okoth-Ochola, (Esq.)
INSPECTOR GENERAL OF POLICE
