Expanded sub-county policing helping curb crime in rural Uganda - PS Kakande
Kakande said the Government’s decision to establish police posts in every sub-county brought security closer to communities and contributed to the country's declining crime rate.
Yunus Kakande, the Permanent Secretary in the Office of the President. (File photo)
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The expansion of police presence to 93% of Uganda’s sub-counties is helping curb crime in rural communities, Yunus Kakande, the Permanent Secretary in the Office of the President, has said.
Kakande said the Government’s decision to establish police posts in every sub-county brought security closer to communities and contributed to the country's declining crime rate.
Speaking at the fifth annual Governance and Security Programme (GSP) performance review at Imperial Royale Hotel in Kampala on October 30, Kakande said the sub-county policing model was one of the notable achievements in the financial year 2025/2026.
He said the initiative followed a presidential directive that every sub-county should have a police station staffed by 18 officers.
The GSP annual performance report shows that sub-county policing coverage has reached 93%, while reported crime rates declined from 501 to 427 during the period under review.
“With the sub-county policing model achieving 93% national coverage, the crime rate declined,” Kakande said.
“Without peace, we shall achieve nothing,” he said. Kakande said the GSP played a critical role in creating conditions under which citizens, businesses and institutions could operate within a framework of law, order, justice and accountability.
He added that these conditions were necessary to support Uganda’s tenfold growth strategy and the Fourth National Development Plan.
Security gains
The report indicates that Uganda strengthened its security capacity through the recruitment of 21,746 personnel and the training and retraining of 55,810 personnel.
The police-to-population ratio improved from one officer for every 945 people to one for every 893.
Technology also contributed to crime investigations, with CCTV surveillance supporting investigations into 1,686 criminal cases.
She said the prevailing peace and security had enabled citizens to engage in economic activities that support household livelihoods.
“The report indicates that as a country, we are doing well security-wise and even when you compare with our counterparts in the East African Community, you can realise that we are really performing well,” Ngabirano said.
Milly Babalanda, the Minister in charge of the Presidency, in a speech delivered on her behalf by Minsa Kabanda, the Minister for Kampala Capital City and Metropolitan Affairs, said peace and stability provided an enabling environment for citizens to pursue livelihoods, businesses to operate and investors to commit resources.
She, however, cautioned that institutional achievements must translate into lasting improvements in citizens' welfare, access to justice and confidence in public institutions.
The report also identifies governance performance, legislative delivery, gender and equity compliance and refugee resilience as areas requiring further attention.
Overall governance performance stood at 0.104 against a target of 0.385, while only seven of the 32 targeted Bills were successfully placed on the Cabinet agenda.
The review covered the first year of the second GSP Implementation Action Plan, running from 2025/2026 to 2029/2030, and the Fourth National Development Plan.