Isaac Kisembo Baguma

#TributeJohnCossyOdomel I started police work in 1990 at Entebbe Police station when ACP John Cossy Odomel was the RPC of Central Region also known as Buganda region. As my RPC, JCO used to visit us in his regular inspection programs. He guided us young officers on discipline & attitude towards work. He was more interested in the welfare of the personnel under him. He emphasized on barracks cleanliness. I was not surprised when he was appointed the head of department for Welfare at Police HQ. He was concerned with how police officers lived especially how their spouses and children lived. He emphasized pre-primary schooling in police barracks. Almost every barracks had a kindergarten and a canteen. It wasn’t long that JCO became the IGP in 1992. His interest in improving police welfare now crystallized into reality. For the first time, officers got two or more uniforms, two pair of shoes, raincoats, introduced more police schools in barracks & each station/barracks had a medical clinic manned by a medical Assistant & a nurse. Of course we also enjoyed end of year parties for the good job well done. While traversing the country in his tours as IGP, he encouraged many leaders & members of the public to inform him about delivery of police services. He received so many complaints. Later, he started the Complaints Desk under the department of Legal Affairs. This was later developed into a separate department by Gen. Kale into what we know now as the Police Professional Standards Unit. He was later after retirement instrumental in the formative stage of the Rectification campaign started by IGP Gen. Kale. He also presided over the implementation of the recommendation of the British Aid Project funded by the Department for International Development(DFID) led by John Lawson, that saw improvement in the logistical supplies especially vehicles (Land-rovers), training led by an expert called David Tingle & Community Policing by Benard Brown. He was interested in improving delivery of police services through a highly trained force that was delivering services through a partnership approach. At a personal level, he approved my training in the UK in crime prevention and community policing in 1995. He literally shaped my future in the Force. It’s true he left at a time when there were complaints of insider trading, corruption & poor investigations. In 1998, he left his position as IGP and later a Commission of Inquiry was constituted. He was never mentioned in any of the cases heard. It wasn’t long that he was appointed a member of the Uganda Police Authority. JCO kept tabs with all officers. He’s an IGP Emeritus who would call you and congratulate you on a good job well done or give you advice if he thought you weren’t doing it well. I remember him advising us on how to improve our work at the police council meeting at the Nile Resort Hotel in Jinja in 2018. My IGP, you loved your country. Served it well through the police. You loved your officers. You touched each one of us with your permanent smile. You lost your spouse recently & it’s so painful to see you transition so soon. I will still remember you as IGP who moulded us at a formative stage to the officers we became. Rest Thee well IGP. May God bless you and reward you for the wonderful work you did for your country. For what didn’t go well, may He forgive you & welcome you into paradise. 🙌🏾