Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions

The Directorate has been at the forefront of promoting acquisition of relevant skills for its personnel, in keeping with its goal of being a knowledge based employer. To this end whenever new members of staff are recruited into the Directorate Induction Courses are organized for them in their respective task areas. The Directorate also holds workshops for its lawyers annually at which the year's activities are reviewed and presentations made in line with the chosen theme. The last such workshop was held in May, 2005. A Refresher Course was also held 53 State Prosecutors in October, 2005.

The other training activities undertaken by DPP Staff include masters and diploma courses by members of staff at different institutions; specialized courses in Management, Fraud, Corruption, Terrorism, Money Laundering, Drugs Prevention, Records Management, Information Communication Technology, Environmental Laws, International Criminal Law, Intellectual Property, Procurement and Contracts Management, Result Oriented Management, Staff Appraisal, HIV/AIDS Prevention and Management, and Performance Management.

The Directorate has some times found it necessary to train its staff abroad. It is in this regard that the DPP undertook training in Strategic Planning and Management in Swaziland in April, 2003. Other training activities undertaken abroad include Human resource management, Fraud Prevention and Prosecutions, Cyber Crime, Financial Management, Juvenile Justice, Gender, Money laundering, terrorism, Legislative drafting and Human Trafficking.

In recognition of the need to enhance the skills and overall performance in Criminal Justice Delivery the Directorate has since the year 2000 started training its prosecutors together with staff of other institutions within the Criminal Justice System. These include Police, Judiciary, Immigration, Uganda Revenue Authority, Government Experts, and Probation Officers. The joint training conducted under this policy includes Economic Crime, Investigation and Prosecution of Drugs related cases, DPP/CID workshops on the challenges in Criminal Investigations and Prosecutions, and the DPP/Experts workshop on expert evidence in criminal prosecutions.

In further efforts towards improved coordination, communication and cooperation with other agencies involved in the administration of Criminal Justice the Directorate establishes inter agency Coordination Committees which meet regularly to discuss operational issues. One such committee is the DPP/CID Coordination Committee which in addition to the above meetings organizes annual workshops for a bigger number of representatives from the DPP, Police, CMI, ISO, VCCU and Government Experts to discuss issues of common interest.

On the global scene the Directorate has and continues to participate in International and Regional activities geared towards prevention and improved prosecution of Criminal Cases in many ways. The DPP attends the Annual Conferences of the International Prosecutors' Association and the meetings of its Executive Committee, on which he is a member. He also attends the Regional Conferences of the African Prosecutors' Association. The Directorate has and continues to be represented at international and regional conferences on topics like Crime Prevention, International Crime, Corruption, Money Laundering, Fraud, Juvenile Justice, Human trafficking, Drugs and Terrorism. Training has played a crucial role in building the capacity of DPP staff by equipping them with the knowledge, skills and ability to match the challenges posed by the new trends of crime. Various members of staff have specialized in different areas of crime like Management, Fraud, Money Laundering, Juvenile Justice, Human Resources, Human Trafficking, Environmental Law, Corruption, Financial Management and Drugs cases. This has helped improve the overall performance of the Directorate.

The training also empowers the staff as it keeps them up to date with new developments in the area of criminal justice and enables them to share experiences with others. They feel confident about their knowledge and skills, which positively impacts on their ability to prosecute criminal cases.

Training further motivates the staff and raises their commitment to the Directorate as it demonstrates the organisation's interest in its employees and their needs, and facilitates them to perform their duties efficiently. They appreciate the role played by the organization in enhancing their skills and ability to serve it.