Uganda: IGP Okoth Ochola bows out
Uganda’s Inspector General of Police (IGP), Okoth Ochola, Monday morning handed over office to his deputy, Maj Gen Geoffrey Katsigazi Tumusiime
The handover ceremony was held at police headquarters in Naguru, Kampala.
Ochola, 65, was appointed IGP on March 14, 2018, replacing Gen Kale Kayihura.
Ochola’s contract expired on March 4, 2024.
The IGP’s close associates said he had spent the past few months updating his handover report.
Immediately prior to his present assignment, Ochola served as the deputy IGP, deputising IGP Kayihura, the man he replaced.
Police spokesperson Fred Enanga recently dismissed reports suggesting internal conflicts within the police leadership over the succession of Ochola.
Enanga said the appointment of the IGP “is not influenced by external pressures or political interests,” emphasising, “Instead, eligible candidates undergo thorough evaluation by the police authority before their names are forwarded to the appointing authority, President Yoweri Museveni, who serves as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces.”
As Uganda prepares for the 2026 general elections, Museveni is expected to appoint an officer with a military background to take over from Ochola.
Ochola joined the Uganda Police Force in January 1988 and started a nine-month basic training. At that time, he was given the rank of a cadet assistant superintendent of police. Following that training, in February 1989, he was posted to Entebbe International Airport as the officer in charge of airport security.
From there, he served at Entebbe Police Station where he remained for three years. He was then posted to police headquarters as the acting assistant commissioner of police in the legal department. He was promoted to superintendent of police and later to senior superintendent of police.
In May 2001, he was appointed the deputy director of criminal investigations and remained in that position for seven years. In 2008, he was promoted to commissioner of police. That same year, he was confirmed as director CID. In 2009, he was promoted to the rank of Assistant Inspector General of Police.
THE RWANDA SUN
