By Andrew Bagala
The police have resorted to drilling boreholes and installing solar power in their facilities to reduce water and electricity bills. This follows the disconnection of water and power in several police institutions across the country over utility bill arrears just five months into the financial year.
“The institution intends to massively install solar gadgets for lighting, drill water for domestic use and package the same to reduce budget leakages on utilities, support operations, and also participate in production,” the Inspector General of Police, Mr Martins Okoth Ochola, said yesterday.
Last week, police teams visited several barracks in the Kampala Metropolitan Police Area evicting people who reside there illegally. At least one person was shot dead at the Kireka Police Barracks during the exercise.
The utilities crisis attracted Parliament’s attention last week with the Speaker of Parliament, Ms Anita Among, raising concerns.
“Why would you disconnect water and electricity to someone providing you with security? This is government to government, why do we do this?” Ms Among asked.
In response, the Minister of State for Internal Affairs, Gen David Muhoozi, said he was unaware of the situation but requested time to find out why. Funding for utilities in the police budget has been insufficient for more than 10 years. For instance, in the 2021/2022 financial year, the government provided only Shs16.24b and Shs11.09b for power and water bills, respectively.
The police require an additional Shs86b to deal with utility bills each financial year. The available funds can cover utilities for only four months in a financial year.
Mr Ochola said despite the challenges, the government has continued to cut the police budget every financial year. In May, President Museveni directed that security personnel shouldn’t be forced to spend their salaries on services the government is required to provide to them.
