A team of experts in human trafficking investigations from United States – US have started training Uganda police officers on detecting and probing human trafficking cartels.
Led by Dave Rogers, who is also director Law Enforcement Operations, at Human Trafficking Institute, Uganda police officers will be armed with expertise on unearthing trafficking techniques such as falsification of documents, fronting names of powerful individuals including security officials and recruitment methods.
The training is being conducted at the Criminal Investigations Directorate –CID at Kibuli, in Kampala. In his presentation, Rogers said imparting police officers with knowledge on investigating human trafficking is the only way perpetrators can be fought.
Rogers applauded Uganda police force for signing a Memorandum of Understanding with Human Trafficking Institute promising that human trafficking will soon be made expensive for the architects in Uganda.
CID registered 286 incidents related to trafficking in persons in 2018 which was an increase by more 100 cases compared to 2017. Most of the victims were of transnational nature and involved adults.
Last month, CID and Interpol rescued 96 girls including teenagers who were being trafficked to Somalia via Kenya. Assistant Commissioner of Police – ACP Francis Okello, also head of CID training school, said police officers particularly at border points need more than enough skills on investigating human trafficking.
ACP Okello said most of participants at the ongoing training were drawn from police stations at border points such as Malaba, Mpondwe, Lwakaka, Bunagana, Kyanika and Mutukula. Okello said there is need to understand the new modus operandi of traffickers.
Assistant Inspector General of Police –AIGP Godfrey Golooba, also police force human resource development director, said the course is vital in developing skills that would enable police fight illegal recruitment and trafficking of Ugandans.
AIGP Golooba said many different organisations are fond of advertising very profitable jobs in the neighbourhood and far way thus making people fall for them. Several victims, Golooba said do not know where they are going or have no idea of what would befall them afterwards. To curb human trafficking, Golooba said security forces must prepare themselves and scruitinise every organisation that recruits people for jobs abroad.
The News Editor ,Reporter at Kagadi Kibaale community Radio
