Kampala, Uganda | URN | A female police officer in a viral video showing her preaching on the streets of Kampala is in trouble for absconding from lawful duties.
The acting Chief Political Commissar, Senior Commissioner of Police-SCP Hadijah Namutebi, says the officer attached to Counter-Terrorism-CT tactical team that protects Very Important Persons (VIPPU) and vital installations had been fully deployed but she unlawfully withdrew from her duties and went to preach on the streets.
Namutebi said as the force, they are not against anyone preaching the word of the Almighty because it is in tandem with policing objectives. But the time when the preaching is done, where it is done and how it is done becomes a subject of concern to the force especially when an officer abandons her duty station to go and preach more so in a police uniform.
“In regard to that scenario of our police officer from CT preaching on streets in uniform, first of all I cannot say preaching is a crime because policing and preaching both promote peaceful existence, and living in harmony. But this officer withdrew from her lawful duties, went and engaged in another activity at the time she was supposed to be on duty,” Namutebi said.
Namutebi was responding to the question whether the officer whose details the force has preferred to conceal (and she herself tactfully first removed any insignia that could tell her rank, before preaching on the street) committed any offence.
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In the video that is making rounds on social media, the female cop is seen preaching the gospel in Luganda using a megaphone. She bases her gospel in Timothy (1:2-3) urging people to get saved.
Much as Namutebi said the officer’s conduct was against the force operating procedures, she was not committal on whether she will be arraigned before the Police Disciplinary Tribunal. Namutebi said not every officer who acts contrary to the force’s principles is arraigned in disciplinary court because some are cautioned, counseled or guided so that they can become better officers.
Namutebi said the Counter Terrorism directorate which is headed by AIGP Abbas Byakagaba was already handling the officer’s case at directorate level. She however said a police officer, preaching on the street, means she is partisan in the faces of those who do not subscribe to that religion.
