KAMPALA, June 18 (Xinhua) -- The Ugandan police has started a headcount of its officers in a nationwide exercise aimed at cleaning the force, a spokesperson said here Monday.
Patrick Onyango, deputy police spokesperson, told Xinhua in an interview that the exercise which started in the capital Kampala and will be rolled out to the rest of the country is aimed at cleaning the force's payroll of deserters and ghost names.
"We want to know the number of officers we have. We don't want to have ghosts in our forces," said Onyango.
Onyango said the unit commanders will present the salary payment roll to the auditing team, who will crosscheck with the police headquarters records.
He said officers will fill in forms which they will return to the head of the audit team. The audit team will cross check that information with that at the headquarters. If they tally, then the officer is cleared.
The headcount follows a directive by Inspector General of Police, Martin Okoth Ochola after taking over from former police chief, Gen. Kale Kayihura.
There are reports that several officers are performing non police duties while others have absconded but continue to receive monthly salary.
According to police figures, the number of personnel ranges from 43,000 to 45,000 officers.
