In The New Vision of Thursday, 24th June, 2021, there was a false and misleading story that was published on Page 4, under the headline ” RETIRED FORENSIC EXPERT READY TO SERVE “. They claim the “Police has remained tight lipped over the questionable retirement of Senior Commissioner of Police (SCP) Samuel Ezati Dramani”, since February, 2020. They further insinuate that the retired senior officer was the forensic expert, whose technical skills were needed to create an identikit of the assailants, behind the attack on Gen. Katumba Wamala on 1.06.2021.
We want to correct the misleading story as follows;
That the Retired SCP Samuel Ezati Dramani, was not retired under questionable circumstances as claimed. He clocked his retirement while under the Directorate of CID, where he had been posted as Deputy Director. He left five Questioned document Examiner’s, at the Directorate of Forensic services, who continued performing the examination of questioned documents. Although he applied for a contract renewal while at CID Headquarters, the Police Authority, did not find any exceptional grounds to renew his contract.
Secondly, the public and the media should know that the capabilities of facial reconstruction are carried out under the Criminal Identification Department, supported by the Fingerprint/ Photography section. It is the one responsible for the photographic facial description of criminals and wanted persons, using the modern photofit software. It enables them to frame facial features such as the ears, eyes, nose mouth hair and forehead, which are transformed into a composite picture of a face as described by witnesses. It therefore, has nothing to do with the Questioned Document Examiner’s or SCP Samuel Ezati.
In the year 2015, the UPF trained two personnel in the effective utilization of the Advanced Photofit software. One of the experts identified as D/Cpl Okongo still exists, while his colleague, Mr. Nasur Mugega, contracted and appointed Inspector of Police, absconded from duty in 2018, with very vital access controls. His whereabouts are still not established. The UPF has however, procured a new system that is pending delivery. It is also acquired and now exploring the use of DNA phenotyping, a next generation sequencing technique for future investigative purposes.
We want to inform the public that the Directorate of Forensic services, has made enormous strides and is focused on expanding into a Regional Forensic Centre of Excellence, with very effective and better quality services. It has scores of talented and dedicated officers from PhD to Diploma level in Forensic science disciplines across its 7 departments. These include; the Ballistics and Toolmarks; Criminal Identification; Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and explosives analysis (CBRNe-A); Quality Assurance and Research; Questioned Documents; Cyber Crime; Administration and Training. The Directorate fully collaborates with partners from other forensic organizations, to ensure its process have a scientific foundation, are valid and reliable.
As we conclude, we strongly condemn the manner in which the story was published, based on a false and misleading narrative which depicts the UPF as very unprofessional. Surprisingly, our team of PROs and Police authorities, have always responded to requests from journalists and Editors of various media houses including the Vision Group. We hope this and other inaccurate stories are not a smear campaign of spreading false and baseless information targeting the police.
We therefore, demand for an apology and immediate withdrawal of the false and malicious article intended to mislead and negatively portray the UPF.
CP Fred Enanga
Police Spokesman
26.06.2021
