The Inspector General of Police Gen Kale Kayihura has denied nurturing presidential ambitions and said the speculation about his bid for the highest office in the country is baseless.
Gen Kayihura made the revelations when he was speaking as the chief runner at the launch of community policing in the three police regions of Sipi, Elgon and Bukedi at Mbale Secondary School over the weekend. Gen Kayihura said some people and media have been making “baseless allegations” about his perceived presidential ambitions.
“The talk that I want to become the president is stupid. My ambition is to secure people to an extent that even a chicken must not be stolen,” Gen Kayihura said, provoking the audience into a loud bout of laughter.
It was not clear whether they were applauding him for having no presidential ambition or were laughing why he would not be interested in the top office in the country.
“Since I started launching community policing in the country, people started creating stories that I am mobilising Ugandans to rally behind me in the next elections. But that is a lie,” he said without mentioning any names.
He charged at critics of the community policing project.
Gen Kayihura told NRM leaders, supporters and crime preventers that there are some people who had been circulating rumours on social media and other media platforms that he was laying strategies to contest for the presidency.
Plans mooted by the former Prime Minister, Amama Mbabazi to contest against President Museveni in the 2016 elections landed him in trouble and he lost his job in a cabinet reshuffle where he was fired alone.
Mr Mbabazi had been denying public speculation about his presidential bid. Later when he declared his bid, he mocked critics of his presidential ambition asking rhetorically whether “lack of it would be a virtue”.
Gen Kayihura said through active and efficient engagement of police and crime preventers in community policing, crime will soon be severely contained.
“We must have a crime-free country, and I believe we can achieve it,” Gen Kayihura said as he named reasons that have contributed to increasing crime as poverty and unemployment among the youth.
He urged the crime preventers and youth in the region to form savings groups and lobby for funds from micro-finance institutions to start up income generating projects.
Gen Kayihura also asked the Resident District Commissioners to ensure police in their area of jurisdiction are effective. He said criminal cases management is still a challenge at police stations.
He ordered police commanders to roll out community policing in their respective districts.
Mr Bernard Mujasi, the Mbale LC5 chairperson, commended Gen Kayihura on the police initiative to maintain peace and order during the February general elections.
“Before, we used to have many crimes reported from our area, but now, it’s reducing gradually. This is possible because of the IGP, who started this movement,” said Mr Brain Mauso, the Eastern region coordinator of the National Crime Preventers Forum.
The Minister for Energy and Mineral development, Ms Irene Muloni, asked police to organise more such marathons to improve people’s health and productivity.
The Daily Monitor
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