Napak: 27 turn up for police recruitment

Napak, Uganda | THE INDPEPENDENT | A total of 27 people turned up for the probationer Police Constable Recruitment exercise that kicked off on Monday at Kangole Boys Primary School in Napak district.

Police announced a recruitment of 2,500 probation constables in February. However after successful applicants were shortlisted for the interviews, a section of local leaders in the Napak district raised an uproar citing irregularities in the application process.

This prompted the police to order fresh recruitment across the entire nine districts of Karamoja. The quota allocation for the probationer Police Constables in the Karamoja sub-region includes nine for Napak District, six for Nabilatuk, 12 for Kotido, 10 for Abim, eight for Amudat, eight for Kaabong, seven for Moroto, seven for Nakapiripirit and three for Karenga District.

But Simon Wafana, the team leader said that they had only interviewed 27 candidates from the region. The candidates underwent several tests which included physical fitness, aptitude, and medical, and oral.

Wafana noted that the applicants who complete the whole process of interviews and meet the required pass mark will be enlisted as Probationer Police constables and will undergo at least one year of police training. He urged those who missed out on the exercise to wait for the second phase of recruitment.

Meanwhile, some of the candidates who missed out on the opportunity blamed police management for not informing them about the exercise in advance. They also faulted the poor road network that frustrated their effort to reach to recruitment center in time.

Nicodemus Imalany, one of the candidates from Lotome Sub County said that he has been denied the opportunity to join the force because of the late coming. Imalany said that he received the information about the exercise at 9 am while in the garden, an hour before the start of the program.

He added that he spent 2 hours walking a distance of about 15 kilometres to the recruitment centre and still couldn’t make it in time.

Joseph Loris, another candidate from Lopei Sub County shares the same experience stating that the recruitment exercise was not formally communicated to them. Loris said that he had to walk for over 25 kilometres to the recruitment centre through roads that had been submerged in water but still failed to get there in time.

In the related development, the UPDF 3rd division has raised a red flag about a group of conmen who are extorting money from unsuspecting civilians in the Bukedi sub-region under the guise of assisting the victims to be recruited into the UPDF as Officer Cadets. The conmen are impersonating senior UPDF and security officers.

Maj Isaac Oware, the UPDF 3rd division spokesperson said that the Joint intelligence teams are working to break through the criminal cells, and apprehend and prosecute them as per the law.

“The general public is informed that there is no ongoing recruitment into the UPDF and that recruitment into the force is free of charge. The UPDF will officially announce through mass media when the time for recruitment comes,” Oware warned.

Oware urged the public not to be lured by the conmen and to report any such criminality to security and relevant authorities.

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