Police in Rwenzori region has failed to make any progress in investigating cases involving missing person. Police has only managed to investigate and trace three people out of the 35 cases of missing persons registered at Fort Portal Regional headquarters since the beginning of this year. Jackson Tumwine, Rwenzori Regional Criminal Investigations Department officer blames the failure by police to investigate many of the cases to lack of cooperation from the families of missing persons.
He says that the relatives of missing persons only stop at reporting the case at the police but do not make any follow up. Tumwine also says that police investigations are made difficult because relatives of the missing persons do not provide police with the right information. He says that in such cases, the relatives could have played part in the disappearance of the person and use police to cover their crime.
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But some of the relatives of the missing persons will not have any of this. They accuse police is being slow in investigating cases of missing person even after being furnished with the right information. Dennis Mugisa, disappeared in June 2011 to date, his whereabouts are not known.
Benjamin Mwirumubi, his brother says that he provided police with the right information, but there hasn’t been any progress. Mwirumbi says that he has made several visits to the police station but there is not progress in tracing for his brother. Mwirumubi says that police often demand money from him to trace his brother.
He says that the only option he has is to place announcements on radio stations requesting well-wishers to trace his missing brother. Rita Baguma, a resident of Kagote in West Division says that her brother disappeared mysteriously but when she reported the case to police they demanded money from her to carry out investigations, which she could not afford.
Baguma says that whenever she goes to the police station to request police to trace her brother the officers are reluctant. She has since given up on the search. But Joseph Kihamba, the district police commander Kabarole also says that the investigations are hampered by lack of transport to record statements from relatives of the missing persons.
He says that through the community policing programme on the F.M radio stations, they have started sensitizing the communities on how to help the police in its investigations to trace missing persons.
