By KT Reporter
The Inspector General of Police, Abas Byakagaba, has fired more than 2,000 Special Police Constables (SPCs) and civilians attached to various police departments and units.
Officers serving in directorate units have confirmed to Uganda Radio Network (URN) that IGP Byakagaba ordered three days ago that all SPCs and civilians should be relieved of their duties before the end of this week.
“It was a shocking move whose triggers we are yet to understand. We are now looking for police officers to serve as office administrators and secretaries. No directorate or unit is now allowed to employ civilians,” an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) said.
Efforts to speak to Police Spokesperson, Kituuma Rusoke, were futile as he did not respond to our inquiries. But several directorates, unit directors and commanders have now started searching for police constables to fill the gaps that have been left by the fired civilians and SPCs.
“Some of us have gone as far as booking the constables who are completing their training next month to come and serve as secretaries or office administrators. We have many civilians who have been serving in different capacities, and some have held these positions for more than a decade. But they have now left within two days,” another ACP said.
At the start of last year, police leadership instructed civilian graduates and SPCs working in different directorates and units to apply for Offices’ Basic Course (OBC), which fully initiates them into the force.
However, many of the civilians who had served for more than 10 years were found lacking physical fitness to go for the course, and others who had been selected failed when they started the course and returned to their civilian positions.
“Although we have not received any official explanation for the dismissal of civilians and SPCs, we suspect that the idea to order such people to go for an OBC was intended for this decision,” a Superintendent of Police said.
Currently, 2,500 police recruits, including many who were civilians in police service, are completing a full one-year course on May 10, 2025. Others whose academic qualifications were at degree level have already completed the 90-day OBC course and got their force numbers.
Civilians who completed an OBC course last year are soon going back for another course so that they can become Assistant Inspectors of Police (AIPs) or Inspectors of Police (IPs), and they will later be elevated to Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP).
There are also claims that IGP Byakagaba has fired civilians and SPCs to cut police expenditure. An SPC earns about 370,000 Shillings monthly, and it is said there were over 1,000 in number. This means the police have been spending 370 million shillings every month on their wages, which goes to 4.4 billion shillings yearly.
Civilian who are degree holders have been earning 500,000 to 1,500,000.
Police are currently operating on a very tight budget and a fuel crisis has been faced by District and Division Police Commanders (DPC), directors and department heads despite several attempts by top police leadership to conceal the problem.
“The idea to cut costs might be good, but this rushed decision will cause a negative impact on different directorates and units. Those civilians have been doing a lot of work which many of our police officers cannot handle,” an SP said.
Some wondered what it would take to force train Police Constables to serve as secretaries or office administrators, since many are used to command-related duties.
It is not yet clear whether civilians who have been attached to directorates of ICT, logistics and engineering, welfare and production are among those fired-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
