Makerere University’s College of Education and External Studies (CEES) is to start equipping Uganda Police Force (UPF) officers with soft skills. The training will be conducted by a team of researchers led by Dr. Badru Musisi and Dr. Joyce Bukirwa Rebecca.
The project; Promoting Community Policing by Integrating Soft-skills in Uganda Police Training Programs, is funded by the Makerere University Research and Innovations Fund (RIF). The project seeks to augment Community Policing by integrating Soft Skills in Uganda Police Force training programs.
The Principal Investigator, Dr. Badru Musisi headlined the programme’s launch with members of the research team and participants during the training yesterday, 30th November 2021.
While UPF is rated among the best forces in the region, the same cannot be said about its image. The discrepancy between the force’s performance and the way it is perceived by the public is due to the widening social-distance between UPF and the community it needs to collaborate with.
Dr. Badru Musisi attributed this to the officers’ limited display of soft-skill policing.
“Yet, a professional blend of hard and soft skill policing is the cornerstone for effective Community Policing,” he emphasized.
Dr. Musisi made the remarks during the launch of the project at Nican Hotel in Lweza. The stakeholder engagement was attended by various commissioners of police, directors, prisons officers, military officers, private security firms, legal officers, religious leaders, civil society, boda boda and Taxi operators among others.
It is hoped that the blend of soft and hard skills will enable UPF to collaboratively work with communities to keep Uganda safe and secure.
