The Uganda Police Force has released the 2022 Annual Crime Report with domestic violence, theft and assaults the most commonly reported crimes.
Theft of all kinds in general was the most commonly reported crime with 28,419 cases compared to 19,026 cases reported in 2021. Common Assault and Domestic Violence followed closely with 26,126 and 17,698 cases respectively while 14,693 sex-related offences were registered.
Out of 26,124 Common Assault cases reported to Police, 4,093 cases were taken to Court with 665 convictions, 2 acquittals, and 3,402 cases pending.
According to the report, there was an 18 percent increase in the number of crimes reported to the Police from 196,081 cases reported in 2021 to 231,653 cases.
Out of the 231,653 crimes reported, 68,405 cases were taken to Court, 26,749 cases were not proceeded with, and 136,499 cases are still under inquiry.
The report shows an impressive 5.2 percent increase in cases taken to court in 2022 compared to 2021. A total of 68,405 cases were prosecuted indicating a stronger commitment to justice.
October 2022 saw the highest number of cases reported with 20,964 cases, followed by September with 20,836 cases and July with 20,630 cases.
On average, there were 19,304 cases reported per month.
Out of the 28 Policing Regions in Uganda, North Kyoga registered the highest number of cases (17,605), followed by KMP North with 16,691 cases, KMP South with 14,492 cases, Rwizi with 14,204 cases and Albertine with 13,544 cases.
Of the 183 Divisions/Central Police Stations, Old Kampala recorded the highest number of cases (4,314), followed by Katwe Police Division with 3,938 cases and Luwero Central Police Station with 3,902 cases in 2022.
Speaking at the launch of the report, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Martins Okoth Ochola said; “As we work towards making Uganda a safer place, I extend my heartfelt gratitude to the entire Police fraternity, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Security Agencies, Judiciary, the Media, and the public for their unwavering support in fighting crime.”
“We have enhanced law and order, engaged communities through community policing programs, and improved the welfare of our personnel by enhancing their accommodations. We are also embracing digitalisation to ease the detection and analysis of crime trends,” he added.
Annual crime report 2022 statistics show a 35 percent increase in common traffic offences recorded by the Directorate of Traffic and Road Safety in 2022. This resulted in a 16.9 percent rise in road traffic crashes, with 3,901 being fatal.
The total number of deaths resulting from road crashes increased by 9 percent from 4,159 in 2021 to 4,534 in 2022 while pedal cyclists and drivers saw a decrease of 9% and 1% respectively.
Fatal crashes rose by 16.9 percent and serious crashes increased by 18.8 percent in 2022, according to the latest data. The number of minor crashes also went up, resulting in a 17 percent increase in overall crashes reported.
Lawrence Nuwabiine, Ag. Director of Traffic and Road Safety said the rush hour between 1900-1959hrs has been identified as the peak time for road crashes.
“On the other hand, the lowest number of crashes was recorded between 0200-0259hrs, a result of reduced activity,” he said.
2022 saw a significant drop in Political/Electoral and Media Offences in Uganda, with only 140 cases reported to the Police compared to 797 in 2021, representing an 82.6% decrease in this category of crimes.
AIGP Tom Magambo said: “Our focus in 2022 was to improve the quality of services we offer, engage communities through community policing programs, and develop the initial phase of digitalising our processes for ease of tracking and analysis of crime trends.”
Magambo said land-related crimes saw a 6 percent surge in 2022 with 561 cases reported to the Police, compared to 332 in 2021. 23 cases reached Court, while 538 are under inquiry and 150 were sent to the DPP for legal guidance.
Cases of Arson reported to Police in 2022 decreased by 3.1 percent compared to the previous year. By the end of 2022, a total of 1,747 cases were reported, down from 1,803 in 2021.
Full Report:
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