Uganda president fires police chief, security minister
Kampala, (MILLAT ONLINE):Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni has fired controversial police chief Kale Kayihura as well as the country’s security minister, a statement said Sunday.
Kayihura, a serving general, was once regarded as the most powerful military officer in the country but has recently fallen out of favour with Museveni who has ruled Uganda since he took power at the head of a rebel army in 1986.
Kayihura was appointed inspector general of police in 2005, the same year that a successful referendum was held on restoring multi-party democracy to the East African nation after a near 20-year ban on political parties.
His tenure as police chief was characterised by the proliferation of military-style units in the force and an increase in the perceived politicalisation of the police.
Since the March 2017 assassination of Felix Kaweesi — a senior policeman who had been viewed as his potential successor — Kayihura has come under pressure for failing to curb growing insecurity.
At least 23 women have been killed in unsolved murders around the capital, there has been a spate of deaths of foreign nationals and last week a woman from an influential family was killed after being held captive for three-weeks by kidnappers demanding a huge ransom.