I am pleased to preside over the closure of this course on Fraudulent Document Identification and Detection of Impostors, offered by the US Embassy in Uganda. I am informed that 600 police officers have so far been trained in this discipline since the inception of the program in 2014. This is a good step at this time when we are faced with numerous challenges of criminal investigations.
Transnational organized crime is on the increase in Uganda and the region as a whole. Most transnational criminals involved in Drug trafficking, Human trafficking, Wild life trafficking, terrorism, money laundering etc, travel on fraudulent documents. The documents targeted by these criminals are passports and visas. It is not uncommon to find these transnational criminals carrying more than one passport. Different currencies are also forged for purposes of conducting illicit business. This makes identification of fraudulent documents used and the detection of impostors difficult if the detectives are not equipped with the knowledge and skills for investigating such crimes. This kind of criminality cannot be allowed to thrive in our country or the region.
The reduction and deterrence of all these crimes will depend on how much knowledge a detective is having in identification of fraudulent documents and detection of the impostors carrying them. Training of this kind are therefore most welcome as they equip the CID with knowledge and skills of investigations.
I’m personally convinced that the skills acquired from this training are adequate to enable participants successfully carry out the tasks ahead of them. However, they will also need to have personal commitment and passion for the profession and be firm in their decisions in order to succeed in implementing what is expected of them. This is because they will encounter a lot of resistance and temptations from the suspects. It is therefore your commitment, professionalism and passion that will enable you apply the acquired skills to investigate the cases to logical conclusion.
Finally, I wish to thank the US Government for funding this training. This confirms the confidence the funders have for the Uganda Police Force (UPF). I know there are many other institutions in the region who could do this but you chose the UPF.
I am also aware that the number of detectives trained so far is small as we have a backlog to train, but this is a good start. We therefore, request for more training in this and other crime areas in order to effectively curtail transnational organized crime. I also want to thank the facilitators for coming all the way from the US to conduct this course.
To you the participants, you take back the rich learning experience you have been fortunate to have in this training. You must share and put to proper use this learning with fellow police officers at your stations so as to create a multiplier effect.
With these few words, I now declare this course closed.
FOR GOD AND MY COUNTRY.
J.M.OKOTH-OCHOLA, (ESQ)
INSPECTOR GENERAL OF POLICE
