Treat police officers like your pastors, says SSP Muhwezi

Kampala Metropolitan Police community liaison officer SSP Donald Muhwezi has urged Ugandans to support police officers with the same care and generosity they show religious leaders.

Muhwezi questioned why communities donate land, build churches and buy vehicles for clergy while nearby police stations lack basic facilities.

“The way you own your churches, the way you donate land to your churches and mosques and follow them up but develop them. They way you check on the religious leaders and know how they slept; that is the same way you should own the police,” he said.

“Unless you are saying that the police are useless in your community. But if you believe that police are useful in your area, the same way you treat your churches, is the same way you should treat the police.”

“Finding a police station that is about to collapse, that is next to a magnificent church is paganism,” he said.

Muhwezi urged residents to save their local police commanders’ telephone numbers and maintain contact beyond reporting crimes. He argued that spiritual guidance and physical security both matter.

“Filling your phones with numbers of your pastors when you do not have the number of your local OC is paganism. God forbid if you burglars were to break into your home at 2am, you will never call your pastor.”

“Security is the foundation of everything. You need your pastor spiritually, but you also need the police to protect what you have.”

He asked residents to visit officers, learn about their welfare and recognise the personal struggles behind the uniform.

“They fall sick, lose their loved ones, they go broke, they die; the same struggles that you go through. Do you think that they eat metal at the police stations?”

Uganda Police continues to grapple with horrid living conditions with officers across the country staying in leaking and makeshift structures, inadequate sanitation.

Housing shortages have forced some officers to erect iron-sheet shelters, adding pressure to water and electricity systems. 

Spouses in Kiira Region reported cracked walls, leaking roofs, damaged toilets and overcrowding. Some said families shared rooms divided with plywood, leaving little privacy. 

Police management has acknowledged the housing problem. On September 2, 2026, Inspector General of Police Abas Byakagaba launched a block-making project to produce construction materials for police housing and offices.

He also laid a foundation stone for improved accommodation at Nsambya barracks. Police said the initiative would extend across the country to tackle longstanding housing shortages.