The Ugandan Police Force has passed out 48 marine unit personnel after completing a six-week induction course in maritime operations.
The training and pass out took place at the Marine Police headquarters, Kigo on Lake Victoria in Wakiso district on Saturday.
Speaking at the ceremony, Police Lawrence Nuwabine, the Deputy Director Human Resources Development, who represented the Inspector General of Police, urged the Police Marine unit to guard jealously the waters of Uganda since it’s one of the biggest revenue earners for the country warning that it can be infiltrated by wrong elements who may want to sabotage the economic development of the country.
Nuwabine said that the only way to protect the water bodies effectively is by building the capacity of marine unit through training and empowering the officers with the necessary equipment and funds, which police management is trying to address.
He urged the officers to use the community policing approach to engage the fishing community to reduce incidents of drowning in the water bodies.
The commander of the Police Marines unit, Eng. James Apora, said that in the last six years 1980 accidents have happened on Ugandan waters and that they have managed to rescue 1118 people, but , 862 lives have been lost during that period.
He noted that the leading causes of drowning incidents include bad weather, overloading and the poor state of the vessels.
Opora noted that the mandate of the unit is to ensure maintenance of law and order within Uganda water bodies, to monitor and coordinate search and rescue operations on waters.
“We also enforce government regulations on immigration, fishing and smuggling on Ugandan waters,”Opora said.
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