Uganda Police Force in the protection and promotion of the right to life in urban areas: a case study of Kampala District, 2001-2009

Abstract

The study sought to investigate Uganda Police Force in the protection and promotion of the right to life in urban areas. To this end, focus was placed on investigating the legal framework in which UPF worked, the measures in place and whether they were being used, the challenges faced, their impact and the recommendations for improving upon the performance of UPF in the above regard. The study was conducted in Kampala district which was largely an urban area that had registered the largest number of extra judicial deprivation of the right to life which was not war related. Interviews were held with members of Uganda Police Force, Human Rights Students, Civil Society, and Community Members, in addition to consulting relevant literature. The study established that the law relating to the protection and promotion of the right to life in Kampala and Uganda generally did not adequately address or was not adequately being implemented to address the most crucial and practical issues concerning police protection and promotion of the right to life. The measures that were put in place by police to safeguard public safety were found to be largely ineffective and with the deficit of funds, it meant that the force was pursuing measures to enhance its performance but in vain. The study also established that the military and other predatory security agencies had been preying on and suffocating the policing space in the country through interfering with police work and violating people’s rights, the right to life in particular. This was in light of the fact that Uganda lacked a fully trained and professional Police Force to execute its mandate as per Article 212 of the Constitution and Section 4 of the Police Act. It was therefore, recommended that in order to guarantee public safety, appropriate legal and policy frameworks, programmatic interventions and measures must be put in place to purge the lacunas that existed in the law enforcement sector. The financial and human resource capabilities of the force must be improved upon in order to ensure effective and efficient accountability to the public, while predatory institutions and authorities must be barred from antagonizing with police work and violating people’s rights.