By John Ikani
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has appointed as Chief of Police, an Army Officer who is blacklisted by the US over alleged human rights violations.
Major General Abel Kandiho was recalled late Tuesday from his posting as security envoy in South Sudan barely two weeks after being dropped as spymaster.
Kandiho has been accused of abuses including electrocution and sexual assault by the US, which added that he was sometimes personally involved in interrogations of detained individuals, including critics of the Ugandan Government.
The US Treasury slapped Kandiho with sanctions last December over alleged human rights violations committed under his watch.
However, Kandiho’s baggage of human rights abuses didn’t stop Museveni’s government from appointing him as head of the country’s police.
Kandiho has “been appointed to the position of the Joint Staff of the Uganda Police Force,” Uganda’s military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Ronald Kakurungu said in a statement.
The appointment comes at a time that Uganda’s police force is under the spotlight following a prominent author’s allegations that he was tortured while detained on charges of insulting Mr Museveni and his son.
The European Union and several member states issued a joint statement on Monday calling for a “comprehensive investigation” into rights abuses in Uganda.
Security and Military Analyst, Charles Rwomushana said on Wednesday that Kandiho’s appointment was a testament to Museveni wanting to “have a firm grip (on) the police force.”
Kandiho will be “powerful enough” to make crucial decisions “in favour of (Museveni’s) government”, Rwomushana told AFP.
Once hailed as a reformist, Museveni has ruled Uganda with an iron fist since seizing control in 1986, when he helped end years of tyranny under Idi Amin and Milton Obote.
