The Uganda Police Force is in the final stages of restructuring in line with President Museveni’s directive to transform it from a city/town-based force into an all-encompassing national entity.
Inspector General of Police (IGP) Abbas Byakagaba revealed this last week on February 19 while releasing the Annual Crime Report of 2024. They reported a 4.1% decline in crime cases in 2024 with a decrease from 228,074 cases in 2023 to 218,715 cases in 2024.
“I take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to our people who were able to lodge in their complaints at various police stations in 2024. It is these reported complaints that enabled us to compile this Annual Crime Report and be able to assess progress in fulfilling our mandate as enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda,” he said.
In so doing, the force will implement the sub-county policing model where it shall have at least 18 police officers at each sub-county. In addition, the police is undertaking an ambitious expansion program of the canine unit to ensure that every police station around the country has at least two sniffer dogs. This expansion is being achieved through operationalisation of a breeding and training programme at Naggalama.
The canine unit is a specialised unit that works hand in hand with other departments of police to prevent, detect and investigate crime. The unit also gives support functions to the anti-narcotics department by providing narcotics detection dogs at Entebbe international airport and other border points with explosive detection dogs to the directorate of counter terrorism.
The canine unit played a pivotal role in fighting crime in 2024, recording 19,899 tracking cases, an increase of 7% from 2023. The tracking led to the arrest of 15,579 suspects. Of these, 5,520 suspects were arraigned before court on various charges. The unit also managed to recover 6,920 exhibits, further aiding investigations and prosecutions.
When it comes to activities involving explosive and narcotic detection, most of the work was done at the Aviation police station in Entebbe. The force recorded 159 on-call responses on abandoned items, 153 were responses on suspicious flights, while 4,020 were on-call responses on suspicious cargo.
“In the above reorganization of the force, the priority is on improving the mindset and operational readiness of the personnel to perform their duties, including their welfare, housing, health and capacity building to ensure professionalism. This coupled with adequate anti-crime infrastructure, will position the force to ensure law and order which will enable strategic security, prosperity and socio-economic transformation in the country,” Byakagaba said.