Former Internal Affairs Minister Kahinda Otafiire has made what could be the most direct public acknowledgment by a senior government official of alleged extrajudicial killings within the Uganda Police Force urging his successor, Prof. Ephraim Kamuntu to confront the problem.
In a post on X on Saturday, Otafiire addressed Kamuntu, who recently assumed the Internal Affairs docket, warning him against tolerating unlawful killings allegedly carried out by some officers in the Crime Intelligence Directorate.
“Hon. Professor Kamuntu, I forgot to tell you, please don’t tolerate any form of extrajudicial killings especially by some few rogue officers in the Crime Intelligence Directorate,” Otafiire wrote.
The statement has drawn attention because it appears to be the first time a senior serving government figure has publicly referred to alleged extrajudicial killings within the police force in such explicit terms.
Otafiire’s remarks also shed new light on comments he made during the handover ceremony at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, where he suggested that some police officers operated beyond his control and withheld information from him despite his oversight role.
“They thought they were hiding information from me,” Otafiire said.
“But they don’t know I am an intelligence officer. I knew all that was going on.”
The veteran politician further revealed frustrations with the police leadership, saying many of his recommendations were ignored.
“Police never listened to me on many things including promotions of young officers.”
“I decided to keep quiet. If someone wants to hang himself, give them enough rope so that it doesn’t break.”
The comments amount to an unusually candid critique from a minister who spent years overseeing Uganda’s internal security sector and are likely to raise fresh questions about accountability within the force.
For years, human rights organizations, opposition politicians and civil society groups have accused sections of Uganda’s security services of involvement in extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and torture. Security agencies have consistently denied the allegations and maintained that officers who violate the law are investigated and prosecuted.
Despite leaving the ministry, Otafiire signaled that he intends to remain vocal on issues of accountability.
“As a FRONASA combatant and member, I will continue following up on the impunity in police and Internal Affairs,” he said.
“You people work for promotions but for us we work for what we believe in. That’s why we risked our lives in the bush.”
The remarks place immediate pressure on Kamuntu, who now assumes responsibility for the ministry that oversees the Uganda Police Force. Analysts say his response to Otafiire’s allegations could become an early test of his commitment to addressing concerns about impunity and strengthening oversight within the country’s security institutions.
Coming from a minister who says he was aware of misconduct occurring within the force, the allegations are likely to intensify calls for greater transparency and independent investigations into claims of abuse by security personnel.
