World Bulletin/News Desk

Iran will be training and equipping the Ugandan police force and building a $1.5-million polyclinic to provide medical services for police officers.

"They also want to boost our forensic units [and] the command center which coordinates all territorial units and information processing," Ugandan Police spokesman Fred Enanga told Anadolu Agency.

He said that Iranian Police Chief Brig. Gen. Ismaeil Ahamdi Moghadam, during a recent visit to Uganda, had signed a memo of understanding with the Ugandan police force to help enhance the latter's crime-fighting capacity.

"The MOU looks at various areas of cooperation in terms of policing and countering crime and where we are supposed to widen security," said Enanga.

He added that the two countries were interested in stepping up cooperation in terms of both technical capacity-building and information exchange.

The police spokesman said Moghadam had visited Ugandan police headquarters in capital Kampala, where he had discussed with Ugandan Police Chief Gen. Kale Kaihura "how Iran can equip our facility [and] train our officers in operation with a higher level of technological advancement."

Enanga said the Iranian delegation had also visited Uganda's police forensic laboratory, criminal investigations department, (including the anti-narcotics unit), cybercrimes unit, canine unit, traffic-management unit, ICT department and logistics and engineering unit.

The focus of cooperation, the police spokesman noted, would be on the construction of police stations and barracks and overall capacity-building.

Asked why the Uganda Police had decided to work with Iran, Enanga said the Islamic republic was at the forefront of fighting the illicit drug trade, especially on the border with its restive neighbor Afghanistan.

"They [the Iranians] are much more advanced in the way they do it [fight drug smuggling]," Enanga told AA. "It is also an area we identified that we need some form of training in."

He said Iran had invited an advance team of Ugandan police officers to visit Tehran next month for technical training.

The team will be also trained on how to maintain public order and manage internal disturbances.

The Iranian government, through its police apparatus, also plans to build a $1.5-million polyclinic in Uganda to cater to Ugandan police officers.

"There are also plans to build a 500-bed police hospital that will be managed initially together with the police," Enanga said.

He added that the Iranian police chief had asked the Ugandan government to assign a police attaché to the country's embassy in Iran with a view to fast-tracking cooperation.