{KAMPALA- The Uganda Police have bought thousands of new motorcycles for crime preventers around the country to carry out election intelligence.}
Sources inside the police and crime preventers’ association said top leaders of crime preventers at regional, district and station levels were the first beneficiaries.
Some of the police divisions or districts are getting more than 20 motorcycles that will be maintained and fuelled by the police force.
However Police spokesman, Mr Fred Enanga, said although crime preventers are some of the beneficiaries, the motorcycles will be under the management of the police’s Crime Intelligence Directorate.
The donation to crime preventers hasn’t augured well with police intelligence officers, who have long been seeking motorised means of transport to the field to execute their work.
One intelligence officer told Daily Monitor that the beneficiaries of the motorcycles are people who lack intelligence gathering skills.
But Mr Enanga said the motorcycles are not only for election purposes, but general police work.
Police standing orders don’t allow civilians, other than those trained and employed by the Force, to use government equipment, including vehicles. The Uganda Crime Preventers Forum Coordinator, Mr Blaise Kamugisha, first denied the donation of the motorcycles, but later acknowledged after we told him that the police had confirmed they were the beneficiaries.
“These motorcycles are for crime intelligence. They are to be used to gather intelligence. [Crime intelligence] is bigger; it includes operations, intelligence and crime prevention,” Mr Kamugisha said.
Police trained thousands of crime preventers in military and self-defence skills, among others.
They have been widely criticised by the public as a militia group to be used as a tool of the ruling NRM party to harass the Opposition and the general population.
Crime preventers have been accused of being partisan in favour of the National Resistance Movement.
SOURCE:DAILY MONITOR:[Crime preventers get election motorcycles->http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Crime-preventers-get-election-motorcycles/-/688334/2999570/-/i62twyz/-/index.html]
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