Members of Parliament on the committee on Defence and Internal Affairs are concerned about the dilapidated state of the Jinja police barracks.
The Jinja police barrack was built in 1934 to host 249 personnel.
However, the legislators led by the Committee chairperson also Sheema district woman representative Hon Rosemary Nyakikongoro visited the barracks on Tuesday and discovered that the barracks currently hosts 485 police personnel and their family members, bringing the number to about 1662 residents.
They were accompanied by a team from police headquarters led by the Commissioner of Police in charge of construction, estates and land management, Regional police commander SSP Dauda
Hiriga and the regional staff, as well as the district police commander of CPS Jinja.
The group inspected Jinja police barracks, Nalufenya police station, canine section, police health center III, and police hanger.
According to James Mubi the PRO Kiira Region, the legislators promised to foster infrastructural development through the allocation of more funds to police as parliament.
However, the police leadership was blamed for not playing its key role in providing decent accommodation for the lower-ranking officers.
The Butiru county MP, Godfrey Wakooli promised to lobby his fellow MPs to agitate for the nationwide refurbishment of all police barracks.
The committee chairperson, Rosemary Nyakyikongoro said that the rooftops at the barracks administration block also serve as housing units for some officers denying the personnel ample office space to execute their duties.
She further noted that the officers are sleeping like dogs and have poor sanitation.
