“By appreciation, we make excellence in others as our own property,” are the words of renowned French Philosopher and writer Voltaire. The police have been like a woman always going to the salon for a facial and never appreciated but rather told of how out of vogue her style is and can do better.
The Uganda Police forces date back to the British government era of 1900, where they were an Armed Forces Constabulary of 1,400 men playing a combined role of soldiers/ policemen. These used to quell wars and disturbances which were continuously breaking out amongst the various tribes. It was not until 1906 that the Uganda Armed Constabulary then of 975 was renamed Uganda Police Force, comprising of men of all ranks, according to the Forces website.
The police have over the years been blamed for their corruption rate and inefficiency in terms of services offered. True they have been known for taking on bribes from the public and sidelining with false accusations but isn’t the public being a little too hard on the law enforcement makers?
Honestly the public should take the time to appreciate the Police forces basing on the ever increasing/ influx of cars and bad drivers on the road in our poorly planned city. The police should be given credit for putting in place traffic officers at the never passable areas in the morning for instance Ntinda kumwokya, Bukoto, Bweyogerere Kireka, Luzira Bugolobi and others. The early birds can bare me witness that the play station kind of drivers wouldn’t find it easy to make it to work, if our brothers in khaki uniforms were not on duty. They work from morning to evening in the cold and ever scotching sun.
Basing on the Inspector General of Police’s brief Wednesday 26/11/08 interview, (on phone) on 104.1 Power Fm morning show dubbed “GO,” Major General Kale Kayihura expressed his dismay towards the public’s response on the forces. He said the public should take time to honestly appreciate them as the influx of road accidents has been greatly reduced due to stringent efforts taken by the Uganda Police Forces. Adding to that the Major General spoke about the forces carrying out a campaign come early December in an endeavor to sensitize the public on Ugandan traffic laws.
He said the police have applied the iron feast in enforcing discipline amongst its officials which has seen many being put behind bars, in accordance to non-ethical acts. He advised the public to go ahead and utilize the toll free lines given and not to be call shy as far as corruption is concerned and promised that action would be taken. The police have taken great strides from the weekly press briefings by the ever media loved Kampala central police spokesperson Simeo Nsubuga and Judith Nabakoba the Police spokesperson to the cracking down on the iron bar men. Such briefings have made the public to appreciate and acknowledge the work carried out by police forces in combating crimes in the country.
The campaign will be a great step in improving the use of roads by both pedestrians and drivers, but a series of campaigns would do it best. This puts us on the memory lane of Uganda Television now Uganda Broadcasting Corporation 1990′s programming. Where the police would air programmes of how best pedestrians and drivers should use the roads. Programmes of such a kind gave the public in depth knowledge of things which seemed too obvious and considered as nitty gritties but relevant. Thus need to have such programmes (on the road on WBS) running on other television and radio stations not leaving out the newspapers as an act of Corporate Social responsibility by the media houses. A comprehensive or multimedia communication strategy/format would do best to carry on the message, due to varying choices among the public’s and their lack of appreciation for the Forces.
They say one can’t take life with him, but Life on the other hand can be kept a worthwhile when at hand. Many have been lost to car accidents due to reckless driving (pilots on the road I call them)most especially on black spots even before saying bye to their families, which are only left yearning for a little more time with their loved ones. So it’s best people embraced the police as friends and not as enemies, as their slogan goes, “Protect and serve.”
We are so often caught up in our destination that we forget to appreciate the journey, especially the goodness of the people we meet on the way. Appreciation is a wonderful feeling, don’t overlook it.
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