Inspector General of Police (IGP), Gen Kale Kayihura last Thursday left Kampala for Paris, the French Capital on a short sabbatical TrumpetNews has reliably learnt.
According to a highly placed source in the police force who asked to remain unnamed, Kayihura sought a short leave to relieve off pressure and also individually have time for himself. “The IGP has had sleepless nights and long working days since the murder of Kaweesi and this has caused enormous fatigue for him. He needed to take a vacation and catch up some relief.”
The source said Since Kaweesi’s assassination, a couple of events have unfolded leaving the institution with cracked image. Some of the gaffes that have exposed the police over the last months include parading fake suspects, arrest of juveniles and extreme brutality on suspects.
All these have all left the public questioning the credibility of the force.
Kayihura’s juniors have found a harsh time defending the image of the police with uncoordinated statements. A source further said that Kayihura’s travel has been treated as confidential as no junior police officer was willing to divulge his whereabouts. “These days it is a crime for us to track our bosses,” a source said when asked.
“He went to Paris for small a vacation and will be back next this Thursday,” the source added.
Police spokesman Asan Kasingye when asked Kayihura’s whereabouts said the IGP left for Algeria last Thursday to attend AFRIPOL Assembly which began yesterday and will end on Tuesday. Pressed on to substantiate whether Kayihura is on vacation, Kasingye admitted, “He has just been given an extension of three more years. Is that pressure?”
Police chiefs across Africa arrived in Algeria on Sunday. The question is why Kayihura had to travel to Algeria 3 days before since it is well known he isn’t among the organisers!
A source said that after the assembly concludes on Tuesday, Kayihura will stay in the country for one more day to assess the progress of the CCTV project which his former aide Jonathan Baroza is handling with Algerians.
He fired Baroza after it emerged that he was part of the dirty cops whose errands had put the police image into disrepute. As the country expected Kayihura to,besides firing his assistant and maybe discipline him, Kayihura instead deployed Baroza in Algeria and added him more responsibilities to the chagrin of a host of people who found the act pretentious.
TrumpetNews couldn’t independently confirm that the police boss is on a vacation.
In a brief statement ,authorities in Algeria have said that the assembly “The General Directorate of National Security (DGSN), led by General Major Abdelghani Hamel, is organizing the first General Assembly of the African Police Cooperation Mechanism (Afripol) on Sunday in Algiers.
Organized in cooperation with the African Union Commission, the work of the first General Assembly will last for three days. During this meeting, consideration will be given to the draft rules of procedure of the General Assembly and the Steering Committee, setting up of the members of Afripol Steering Committee besides determining the cooperation frameworks for police institutions at national, regional, continental and international levels. General
Kayihura is credited for cleaning the image of the police force in recent years. Critics though allege he has also been at the helm of a largely corrupt and brutal force that has perpetrated human rights violation over the public, media, suspects and even students like the Makerere students.