Hundreds of policemen have been sent to Olilim Police training school in Katakwi district to train on public order management.
The officers, drawn from various units in the country, are to undergo a three-months training in public order management at the school located at the border between Katakwi and Napak districts.
Judith Nabakooba, the deputy police spokesperson says the officers will be trained on crowd control, proactive policing techniques and how to use the anti-riot gear. She explains that the whole training department has been shifted to Olilim as an effort to develop the school into a training wing for the force.
The decision to send policemen to train on public order management comes at a time when the force is being criticized locally and internationally for its heavy handedness in dealing with peaceful demonstrations.
In April last year during the ‘walk to work’ protests, Arinaitwe Bwana, a police officer at the rank of Assistant Superintendent of Police-ASP manhandled Dr. Kiiza Besigye, the opposition Forum for Democratic Change leader, an incident that further dented the image of the force.
Arinaitwe was captured on video cameras breaking into Kiiza Besigye’s car and later spraying him with pepper spray. The chemicals sprayed by Arinaitwe left Kiiza Besigye partially blind and had to be rushed out of the country for treatment to regain his sight.
During the same protests, a three year old girl, Juliet Abigail Nalwanga, was shot dead by a police constable who was deployed in Nyendo, Masaka to quell walk to work demonstrations.
