The spokesperson for the Uganda People’s Defence Force, Brig Gen Felix Kulayigye, requests that police refrain from inquiring about the tribe and religion of those who are making statements from witnesses and convicts.
Kulayigye, who was in charge of organizing Patriotism Day at Ntare School on Tuesday, stated that the two requests the police made about tribe and religion were pointless and reflected colonial attitudes that ought to be abandoned and expunged from police records.
He claimed that it is against the president’s initiative to have leaders and schools study patriotism, to inquire about a person’s tribe and religion.However, Human rights activists are opposed to Brig Kulayigye’s proposal noting that profiling the tribe and religion of the suspects and witnesses doesn’t discriminate or violate human rights.
Human rights attorney John Kavigi stated that neither the crime committed nor the course of the investigation is impacted by security personnel’s knowledge of the suspect’s tribe.
Despite tribal politics, he thinks cops conduct objective profiling.
Human rights advocate Babirye Nakato says that rather than relying solely on national identity cards, profiling suspects according to their tribe or religion can help identify missing persons.
Meanwhile, Kulayigye said despite patriotism serving its purpose in schools, since there is a reduction in strikes, he asked that more time be accorded to patriotism studies to students in schools like it is to leaders that go to Kyakwanzi.
“This program is given only for one week in schools for a whole year, but when some people go to Kyakwanzi it’s two to three weeks, this should change”.
He narrates that even though the time given to patriotism studies is limited, some people can still improve noting that if more resources are given to integrate patriotism into the school curriculum and conduct a follow-up with the same students a significant impact can be created.
