IGP Wants UN Agency to Vacate Naguru Police Land

The Inspector General of Police, Martin Ochola Okoth wants the United Nations African Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders (UNAFRI) to vacate the police land in Naguru.

The institute is an inter-governmental organization that promotes the active cooperation of governments, academic institutions, non-governmental organizations, and experts in the area of crime prevention and criminal justice.

It is mandated by the African States to help mobilize human, material, and administrative potential to promote sustainable development and strengthen crime prevention and control capacity.

In his statement presented to the Sub-committee on Defence and Internal Affairs on Tuesday by the Director, Logistics and Engineering, Richard Edyegu., the IGP says that the Institute should vacate the 16.52 acreage land leased to them for failing to develop it as envisaged.

“UNAFRI has not proceeded to develop and utilize the land as was envisaged. To date, they have not proved to be beneficial to the government in as far as their mandate is concerned,” Edyegu said.

In April 1998, Uganda was selected by the Conference of Ministers of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) as the host of the UNAFRI whose objective was to promote collaborative activities and joint action on priority problems bearing on crime prevention and control in the development context.

Part of the obligations of the host country was to provide residential accommodation, office space, classrooms, and furniture to the institute. Indeed, in 2011, the government formalized a 99-year lease to the Institute including land housing 12 senior staff houses.

The IGP notes that UNAFRI has since failed to develop the land and even rented out most of the residential houses including the 12 senior staff houses for income generation contrary to the purpose for which the lease was given.

“This poses a security threat for the police establishment particularly because this is the same place that houses the command center, armory, counter-terrorism base, and police headquarters,” Edyegu said.

UNAFRI has since subleased 7.8 acres of the land to private business entities such as YUASA car Bond and Future Group Limited contrary to the purpose for which the lease was given.

The police leadership now wants the land comprising Plot 3 Mukabya Road and plots 2-8 on Katalima Road returned to Uganda Police Force for further management and the 12 senior staff houses are immediately vacated and surrendered.

Police are now considering leasing to National Social Security Fund (NSSF) about 40.47 acres of land in exchange for the construction of staff accommodation and a forensics laboratory.

“We have started looking at other developers like NSSF which has the money. They will build for us structures that are commensurate with the value of the land,” AIGP Erasmus Twaruhukwa who led the police team said. The land to be given to NSSF has been valued at about Shillings 180 billion Shillings.

Donozio Mugabe Kahonda, the Chairperson of the subcommittee expressed dismay at how Uganda Police Force has been leasing out its land with impunity. “Imagine UNAFRI, which is actually a defunct institute, is given a lease of fewer than 99 years, but they are able to sublease it at 99 years,” Mugabe said.

Twaruhukwa said that UNAFRI has been dysfunctional since its inception and has not received any funding from the United Nations - UN.