Police housing block named after former IGP Gen Kale Kayihura
The Police leadership has named one of the Police housing blocks after the former Inspector General of Police Gen. Edward Kale Kayihura.
The construction of the 1,020 housing units was launched by Gen. Kayihura in 2016.
Gen. Kayihura envisaged the construction to be complete in 2018. But Gen. Kayihura was sacked by the appointing authority President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni on March 4, 2018.
He was replaced by his deputy Martin Ochola who has since been steering the force.
Ochola and Minister for Internal Affairs, Maj. Gen (rtd) Kahinda Otafiire, are expected to commission the housing units next week, on Thursday the Police engineering and logistics directorate currently headed by AIGP Richard Edyegu named the central block of the housing units after Kale Kayihura.
The Police officers at Naguru Police headquarters were seen excited about the ‘central’ building being named after their former boss Gen. Kayihura.
When one stands at the second entrance of police headquarters or along the Katalima road which connects to Ntinda Stretcher, you visibly see the Kale Kayihura Block outstanding among others.
“He deserves to be named after these housing units. He was the architect and he left the resources in place. In fact, if he had not been fired, these houses would have been completed and occupied at the end of 2018,” said a Senior Superintendent of Police -SSP.
Another Police officer at the rank of Superintendent of Police -SP argued that it is even wrong for the Police leadership to name other blocks after other previous IGPs yet the whole project was engineered by Gen. Kayihura.
“All these blocks should have been called Gen. Kale Kayihura Police housing units. It is all his work and deserved the whole credit. In fact, whatever key structure that is here (Naguru) is Kayihura’s efforts,” an SP said.
Apart from Gen. Kayihura, two other blocks have been named after the first black IGP Erinayo Wilson Oryema, and the reigning IGP Martin Ochola.
Born on January 1, 1917, Erinayo was appointed IGP on April 1, 1964, replacing M J Macoun.
However, Erinayo became a minister during President Idi Amin’s regime even though his life was brutally allegedly ended by the same regime in 1977.
But Gen. Kayihura who has become the talk after being named one of the most visible blocks served as IGP from 2005 up to 2018. This made him the longest IGP ever after being at the helm for over 12 years.
By the time Kayihura was fired, he had increased numbers in the Police force from 14,000 to 46,000. He built the Police headquarters, built the forensic building, procured the Closed-Circuit Television -CCTV cameras, and started the construction of the National CCTV Command Centre and various police stations.
Ochola served as CID director and deputy to Gen. Kayihura for two terms of three years. So far, Ochola has added 10,000 police officers and has overseen the completion of the housing units that if all goes well will be commissioned next week.
There has been a lot of speculation about who is going to occupy the housing blocks after rumours spread that two blocks had been turned into offices of the Counter-Terrorism- CT directorate headed by AIGP Abbas Byakagaba, the directorate of Information Communication Technology -ICT headed by SCP Yusuf Ssewanyana and Environmental Protection Police Unit- EPPU. But SCP Fred Enanga, the Police spokesperson, said all that was intended to discredit the achievements the force has registered.
Another rumour about the housing units has been that they are going to be occupied by AIGPs and other senior Police officers. However, the Police force Chief Political Commissariat -CPC Hadijah Namutebi has reaffirmed that the housing units are meant for Inspectorates up to Constables.
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