The first deputy Prime Minister Rt. Hon Gen Moses Ali commissioned, on 2nd November, the “Regional Forensic Referral Centre of Excellence” that will be hosted by the Uganda police force, which will take 32 months to complete.

Rt. Hon Gen Moses Ali said the center will also be used by other East African Community member states, which include Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan.

He said that “the center will revolutionize criminal investigations from traditional to modern ways”, and added that “This project is a timely intervention as a response to the ever growing sophistication of national, cross border and transnational crimes and the growing threat of organized criminal networks” he said.

Gen. Kale Kayihura, Inspector General of Police, said the center will be a big boost in the fight against crime ranging from murders to terrorism.

He said the Uganda police has received support from its counterparts in Algeria, Italy, Japan, Singapore among others in helping to design the project.

The function took place at Police Headquarters in Naguru on 2nd November and was attended by Ambassadors of Algeria, and Italy and the deputy Ambassador of China and, notably, experts from Algeria, Turkey and Officers of the Italian Carabinieri Corps.

The 4-storied project will seat on 2.96 acres of land with four wings that will be dealing in forensic pathology, Cyber and digital forensic, database (DNA), crime scene management, forensic biology, and chemical analysis among others.

On this occasion, the participants also visited a housing project for Uganda police officers.

Dozens of housing units of the first phase of this project are already ready for hand-over.