As President Museveni continues the cleanup game, in a manner that will revitalize him and regain him some public trust and popularity ahead of the next elections, there is growing consensus in top echelons of government that the situation in police requires a public commission of inquiry similar to the one Justice Catherine Bamugemereire continues to lead into land matters. It’s calculated that such a comprehensive inquiry will give the opportunity to the very many members of the public that have been wronged, tortured or have had their property e.g. grabbed from them by police untouchables that were bred during the ex-IGP Gen Kale Kayihura era. Gratefully even development partners are supportive of this inquiry which they believe is the best way for the world to comprehensively know what exactly happened and didn’t happen in Uganda Police Force of the Kayihura era (basically 2005-2018). Sources close to him now tell this news website that President Museveni is finally convinced that the Kayihura-era rot in police sunk so deeply there isn’t much that the new IGP Okoth Ochora and his deputy Sabiiti Mzee Mugenyi are going to change in the limited time they are going to serve. “There are also lots of people with lots of credible stories to share and there is no way all of them will get a chance through the impending trials of Gen Kayihura and his assistants to exhaustively share their painful experiences. This is why a commission of inquiry would be the best way forward,” said a reliable State House insider adding that such an inquiry will excite the public as it gives them an opportunity to vent out their anger, expose the perpetrators of impunity in the Kayihura-era and have some sense of healing. Besides being beneficial to the public in a way that it increases scrutiny around what went wrong in the Kayihura era, such an inquiry will be an opportunity for Mzee’s political supporters and cronies to access well earning job opportunities and posh cars during the inquiry period. It will also demonstrate good faith on the side of the President and also divert media attention from government failures to the public inquiry that could consume the public attention and debate for the remaining period between now and the next elections. Given that the matter of the trial of Gen Kayihura and his assistants will be restricted in the military court martial, it’s unlikely that anybody will object to the commission of inquiry on grounds that it interferes with the court process. The two-inquiry and court martial-could go on simultaneously. Alternatively, the court martial trials could be expedited so that the public commission of inquiry commences immediately after conclusion of the proceedings in the court martial. Watch this space!
