KAMPALA – The Operations Commander of Kakiri Policing Division, Hannington Asiimwe is detained at the Railways Police in Kampala on the accusation of selling six sacks of marijuana exhibits.
Asiimwe, according to police sources, conducted an operation in areas of Masuulita, on Christmas Eve – intercepting loads of marijuana that were being transported to Kampala. However, he did not hand over the exhibits to the O/C of Criminal Investigations.
It is said that information about the planned sale of exhibits was leaked to the Division Police Commander, Hassan Mugerwa on Boxing Day – who in turn cautioned Asiimwe in regard to the same.
“But on January 3, a motor vehicle was brought to the station and loaded with six sacks of marijuana. The taxi was driven to Kampala,” revealed a police source.
Since the exhibits had been recorded on SD ref 02/24/12/2022, Mugerwa is said to have visited Asiimwe’s office and indeed found only six bags of 12 impounded sacks.
Mugerwa is said to have taken action against his junior for an irregular conduct – opening up a case file against him.
“We have reviewed the CCTV footage and it shows the motor vehicle taxi had a concealed number plate. It was seen entering the quarter guard at 22:18 hours and left the station at around 23:01 hours,” revealed the source.
Kampala Metropolitan Police Spokesperson, Patrick Onyango confirmed Asiimwe’s arrest and detention.
Senior police officers who are in contravention of operation orders are often detained at the Railway Police as opposed to the tradition of locking them up at Nsambya Barracks – as they wait to appear before the disciplinary court.
Onyango said Asiimwe will face a disciplinary trial, which might result into a dismissal from the force, adding that such conduct was shameful to the force and should be treated as an isolated incident.
“This is an isolated incident. It is not our style to steal exhibits. We always make sure that exhibits are protected. All police officers must know that exhibits should never be tampered with,” cautioned Onyango.
Besides stealing of exhibits, marijuana, which refers to the dried leaves, flowers, stems, and seeds from the Cannabis sativa or Cannabis indica plant, is a psychoactive drug that contains close to 500 chemicals, including THC – a mind-altering compound that causes harmful health effects to the body.
