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President Museveni stressed the importance of electronic number plates at a police officer’s passout ceremony at Kabalye Police training school on Wednesday 15^th 2023, aiming to combat crime, including terrorism. The government introduced digital plates, focusing on all the vehicles in the country. Museveni commended police force growth but called for further expansion.

“I am now insisting on the electronic number plates,” he said.

“Please, I want my number plates. Don’t delay my number plates. I don’t want these aimless number plates. I want intelligent number plates for the vehicles and for the cars.”

At the Kabalye Police Training School in the Masindi district on Wednesday, Museveni delivered remarks during the passout ceremony for 2,717 newly trained Probational Police Constables, Special Police Constables, and immigration officers.

Out of these, 1,388 are Special Police Constables (first intake of integration course), 57 are immigration officers, and 1,272 are Probational Police Constables (23rd intake).

For twelve months, four months, and two months, respectively, they received intense training.

Museveni stated that with the force utilizing all of the comprehensive tools and resources available to combat crime, the electronic number plate program will dramatically reduce the disparity in criminal activity particularly that related to terrorism.

“You will see these terrorists who have been killing people from Congo. We are going to finish them. I have told them; we’re going to kill all of them. We have everything needed,” said the President.

He said the killers of tourists in the Queen Elizabeth National Park recently would have been captured more quickly by security.

“They came to trace using their eyes at the scene of crime. They could have brought a Police dog to follow. I rang people on ground some hours after and the dog followed the criminals for 15 kilometres. We got those people much later.”

In order to uncover criminal activity, Museveni urged the incoming police officers to make use of all the resources at their disposal, including forensics, police dogs, cameras, witnesses, and eyes.

On November 2, the government formally introduced digital number plates, focusing on government-owned automobiles in the first phase.

The project is being managed by the ministries of security and transportation.

Under the Intelligent Transport Management Systems (ITMS) program, the government reached a 10-year agreement with a Russian company to implant digital tracking chips in all registered automobile number plates in Uganda through these two ministries.

In the meantime, Museveni greeted the new officers and expressed gratitude to the police hierarchy for rebuilding the Uganda Police Force, which had been reorganized in 1986 and had grown from 3,000 officers to 53,000 today.

Nonetheless, he stated that the figure ought to be increased to roughly 92,000 to correspond with the global police ratio of one officer for every 500 citizens.

“When I come to these pass outs, I feel very happy when I see very many young people joining these forces, moreover when they are well educated. This makes training very easy, as educated people can learn faster,” said Museveni.

He advised the new recruits to uphold discipline, ideology (patriotism), and self-love by abstaining from alcohol and AIDS.

He urged them to pursue ongoing training in order to increase their level of expertise within the Force.

If not, you have a very bright future ahead of you. Congratulations, and best of luck to you. The President said, “It gives me great pleasure to use the authority granted to me by the Constitution to pass you out.

Maj. Gen. Kahinda Otafire, the minister of internal affairs, called on the new police officers to serve with dignity and described the occasion as an accountability to the voters in bolstering their security.

“Serve the nation; serve no one else. Make Uganda a better place to live while serving the country.

“And I want you to pursue your careers with focus. It is the goal of all of you police officers to obtain the Inspector General’s button. It is the outcome of diligent labor, self-control, and dedication to the populace, stated Otafire

He promised to attend to the long list of needs of the inducted immigration officers and urged them to protect the nation.

“You are the first line of defense for us; you decide who enters and leaves Uganda.”

The minister criticized the three security agencies’ appalling housing conditions and blamed the finance ministry’s bureaucratic resource allocation processes for them. He urged the President to step in.

Martins Okoth Ochola, the Inspector General of Police, expressed his gratitude to the President for the financial support and direction that allowed them to train, mentor, and shape the new officers in the face of the current economic difficulties.

“This is in addition to the numerous emergency training courses that personnel have taken in order to strengthen and improve the force’s quality and ability to meet the nation’s current security challenges.”

The IGP informed Museveni that his force is in advanced stages of improving the welfare of its officers in line with his directive.

He stated that work is currently underway on the Police headquarters in Naguru, Kampala, and that a state-of-the-art, 300-bed Police hospital in Nsambya will shortly be put into operation.

According to Ochola, they also intend to construct 53,000 lodging units.

The commandant of Kabalye Police Training School, CP Abdallah Sowedi, stated that the new recruits have proven their dedication to following the law and ensuring the safety and security of the nation as well as beyond.