The decrease is “slight, don’t relax” – UPC to police

Uganda Peoples Congress (UPC) has told the Uganda Police Force (UPF) that “there is an interesting aspect of their annual crime report for 2025” which was released on March 30, 2026.

According to the report, the country registered a decrease of 10.2% in the volume of crimes reported to police in 2025 compared to 2024, which decreased by a mere 4.1%.

UPC, however, welcomed the report. The political party warned the Uganda Police Force and sister security agencies “not relax by the mere statistics which shows a slight decline in the crimes reported.”

“If Police is to effectively enforce law and order in our respective communities, it must prioritise restoring fully its working relationship with the community to step up intelligence and confidence,” Muzeyi Faizo, head of media and communications at UPC, said on Wednesday.

He added: “This is one of the ways that can lead to a reduction in crime as you are guaranteed of real-time accurate information.”

UPC calls upon all the respective authorities to equally educate the people on the necessity of timely reporting of crime as well as preserving the crime scenes in an orderly manner without interference.

The above, Faizo said, makes the work of investigating cases and prosecuting it easier as credible evidence is made available.

“UPC holds the view that sanity in the community also requires a multisectoral approach. We therefore encourage both the Central Government and Local Government to work hand in hand with various agencies like police, prisons, intelligence wings and cultural/traditional institutions as well as judiciary to ensure we live in a stable, friendly and harmonious society.”

UPC agrees that “justice delayed, is justice denied. It is now general knowledge and everywhere in the public domain that UPF is under staffed which slows efficiency and effectiveness of work thus delaying justice to all parties.”

By any standards, UPC noted that one police officer serves 500 people. “In our situation (in Uganda) and according to various reports, 1 police officer serves over 1,000 people. In terms of processing cases, 1 officer is expected to handle an average of 12 cases.

“But in our scenario, 1 officer is handling over 54 cases. This in the end creates a backlog of delayed cases.”

UPC calls upon the government and the Ministry of Internal Affairs to ensure that the Uganda Police Force is well staffed and facilitated with the right set of tools for efficiency and timely service to the people of Uganda.

By the time of the release of the Annual Crime Report, UPC noted that land, which is a key factor in production is becoming a key trigger to various sorts of crimes.

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“Land titles are forged and money changes hands in a dubious way at the expense of the ordinary citizens of the Republic of Uganda. People are facing land evictions on regular basis across the country and courts of law are ever busy trying to resolve land conflicts, which, at times are more violent resulting in gross injuries and even death.

“For instance, in Acholi sub-region, land has been and it is still a hot issue. It had to lead to issuing of a presidential directive so as to contain and calm down the situation, for the people to embark on their day-to-day work.”

Faizo, speaking for his employer UPC, said the land question has to be fairly resolved and that ordinary people have to be protected with their property.