January 05: Uganda Police Force announced the deployment of 50,000 Special Police Constables (SPC) to keep law and order at polling stations countrywide. Presidential and parliamentary elections take place on January 14.

January 05: The hitherto bustling Mugarama landing site on Lake Kyoga was deserted after angry fishermen raided and burnt a Police post, accusing cops of murdering one of their colleagues. Kokas Omuron was shot dead during a Police raid on one of the bars on the lake’s shore in Labor sub-county, Serere district.

January 07: The Police in Terego district arrested 13 people in connection with the murder of a Grace Jogoo - South Sudanese refugee woman in Omugo refugee settlement.

January 08: The Uganda Police Force said they had not registered any complaint of the planned harming of the National Unity Platform (NUP) presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi’s family as he had claimed.

January 13: Security agencies led by Police heightened deployment in 39 districts which they identified as hotspots ahead of the presidential and parliamentary elections.

January 18: The Police and military sealed off the National Unity Platform (NUP) offices in Kamwokya, Kampala, blocking staff and other party officials from accessing the premises.

Police raid NUP offices

February 02: The deputy inspector General of Police, Maj. Gen. Paul Lokech, accused people aligned to the opposition party, the National Unity Platform (NUP), of being behind the malicious audio and video stay at home messages intended to cause fear and panic.

February 03: Over 50 suspected criminals were detained at various Police stations after they were netted during a joint security operation that was conducted in Kampala city centre.

February 04: Police announced plans to exhume the body of Frank Senteza, who was a private bodyguard of National Unity Platform (NUP) leader Robert Kyagulanyi, to carry out for a post-mortem.

Frank Ssenteza (second from right) was part of Robert Kyagulanyi's security team

February 05: The Police identified the family that they said was involved in the dumping of 15 bundles of human remains at Buseese village, Nkozi subcounty, Mpigi district.

February 16: The Uganda Police Force and stakeholders in the transport business formed a partnership to fight COVID-19.

February 17: Security organisations comprising of the Police, Local Defence Unity personnel (LDUs) and the army resumed their night operations in Kampala and other urban areas. The operations were in a bid to crack down on people who violate the presidential directives on Covid-19 guidelines.

February 27: Police arrested eight people over possession and distribution of fake dollars. The military operation that lasted over three hours, paralysed business in parts of the upscale city suburb of Munyonyo. A team of investigators sealed off the scene of crime and carried out a thorough search inside and outside the premises amidst heavy deployment of the Counter Terrorism Police and other security agencies.

March 02: The Police busted a criminal gang that had been linked to 10 murders and over 40 robberies in the greater Luwero subregion. The murders linked to the gang included the shooting of a senior army officer, Maj. Noel Mwesigye, 47, attached to the Special Forces Command (SFC), Entebbe.

March 02: The President and Commander-in-Chief (CIC) of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces, Gen. Yoweri Museveni, summoned all Police commanders for a security meeting.

March 03: The Police’s Flying Squad, working with the Special Forces Command (SFC), arrested two more people suspected to be part of the deadly criminal gang that had been operating in greater Luwero sub-region.

March 04: The Police explained that they took possession of Bob Kansango’s body following a case filed by the widow, Nice Bitarabeho Kasango, following a dispute over the burial site.

March 16: Police in Kyengera, Wakiso district arrested four suspects over alleged aggravated defilement and human trafficking of a 13-year-old. They are Isaac Mulema a bodaboda rider, Scovia Mbabazi, one Matovu and Julius Ogwang.

March 16: After 13 years of wearing white as their official uniform, the Uganda Police Force (UPF) Council replaced it with the old regular khaki uniform, with special additions to it. The new uniform was unveiled by the institution’s Chief Political Commissar, Assistant Deputy Inspector General of Police (AIGP) Asan Kasingye during the Police’s weekly press briefing at the UPF headquarters in Naguru.

March 16: The Police briefly arrested the National Unity Platform (NUP) president, Robert Kyagulanyi and his supporters after they attempted to demonstrate against the abduction and torture of NUP supporters.

March 17: The Police were investigating women killings in Kampala. Sources said the killings were characterised by brutal murder and dumping of the victims’ bodies, before they are set ablaze.

March 19: Detectives arrested five people, including a Police officer, suspected to have been behind a number of robberies in Kampala, Wakiso, Mukono and other districts. The suspects are said to have been commanded and recruited by a Police constable attached to Kasangati Police Station.

March 24: The Police’s Crime Intelligence Unit operatives arrested five men, including the prime suspect linked to the murder of five women in Nakulabye, a Kampala suburb.

March 29: Officers from the Inspectorate of Government (IG) in Mbarara arrested the Igororo town council senior finance officer in Ibanda district on charges of embezzlement and causing financial loss. Ezra Nimusiima, 50, who doubled as treasurer for Igorora town council, was arrested last week on allegations of embezzling sh28,976,300.

April 02: The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Martins Okoth Ochola, applauded the leadership of the Muslim community in Uganda for their positive response in the fight against COVID-19.

April 08: The Police said some party presidential candidates and their supporters provoked them to get confrontational in some instances, during the presidential elections.

April 14: The Police appealed to Parliament to increase its budget in order to sort out the force’s acute shortage of both residential and office buildings. The Police management, led by the internal affairs minister, Obiga Kania, told MPs on the defence and internal affairs committee that currently 40,000 entitled officers do not have accommodation.

April 20: According to the Police’s 2020 Annual Crime Report, thefts in general dropped to 41,950 reported cases (21.4%) last year, from 55,704 reported cases in 2019, a 24.6% decrease in the reported theft cases.

April 21: The Uganda Police Force successfully identified and dismantled eight criminal syndicates linked to several criminal activities in different parts of the country, the 2020 annual crime report revealed.

April 26: Police published the names of 3,097 subordinate officers who were promoted by the Inspector General of Police, Okoth Ochola, who was exercising delegated powers of President Yoweri Museveni, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

April 29: Police analaysed a Closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage to obtain more clues as they intensified efforts to apprehend unknown people who attacked a former South Sudan senior army officer, Brig. Gen. Abraham Wani Yoane Bondo who succumbed to the injuries from the assault.

May 19: The Police opened another rape case against Dennis Mutumba, three years after he was charged at Nakawa Magistrates’ Court with a similar offence. Mutumba was arrested after the Office of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) sanctioned rape charges against him over a 2019 incident in which he is accused of raping a client at his gym and dog shop in Luzira. He was remanded to Kitalya Prison.

June 02: The Kira Road Police officers who were in the spy camera control room when assailants trailed and shot at the former army commander and works minister Gen. Edward Katumba Wamala were arrested.

June 07: The Police conducted an operation in bars in the greater Kampala metropolitan area, where they arrested 1,100 people. A total of 50 vehicles were also impounded.

June 07: The Uganda Police force considered deploying patrol vehicles for Kulambiro-Kyanja city suburbs and to also redesign and install more CCTV cameras following the increase in crime in these areas. The plans were revealed by Asan Kasingye, the Police political commissar, over the weekend.

June 08: The traffic Police were reinforced with armed officers to arrest any fleeing suspected armed criminals, reported Police spokesperson, Fred Enanga.

June 09: Security agencies, led by Police, acquired additional closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage, reportedly giving ‘clearer’ images of assailants that targeted outgoing works minister, Gen. Edward Katumba Wamala.

June 16: The Police in Buikwe district arrested two suspects in connection to four mysterious murders within a week, in which the victims’ throats were slit and tongues removed. Richard Misango Musisi and Henry Kayita were arrested after a police dog deployed at the last scene of crime on Saturday night stopped at their homes, and upon searching, police recovered blood-stained clothes.

June 17: The Police started investigating the circumstances under which the Kayunga district chairperson, Ffeffeka Sseruboga, died.

June 22: Over 500 vehicles were impounded during a Police swoop targeting motorists flouting COVID-19 guidelines.                                                                                             The operation on different roads in Kampala followed the directive issued by President Yoweri Museveni on June 18 aimed at preventing a surge in COVID-19 infections and deaths during the second wave of the pandemic.

June 24: The Police in Jinja city stepped up enforcement of the lockdown guidelines issued by President Yoweri Museveni. The Police, backed by the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF), deployed on various routes leading to Jinja city to ensure that nonessential workers do not enter the town.

June 26: Nsambya Police barracks, which is the largest facility of the institution in the country, was engulfed in an electricity blackout that lasted over a month. The facility, located in Kampala, is home to many Police officers below the rank of Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP). Over 80% of the entire Police force are below this rank.

July 05: Ednah Nyiraneza, the Masindi acting district Police commander, disowned the Special Police Constables (SPCs) allegedly enforcing presidential guidelines on behalf of the Police. Moses Kirya, the district speaker, who is also the councilor representing Karujubu division, accused the Police in the area of extortion, mistreatment and not following the law while enforcing presidential guidelines.

July 06: Security operatives gunned down three suspects when they raided a “terror cell” allegedly operated by ‘reactivated’ Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) operatives in Kanyogoga slums, Namuwongo. The suspects included Juma Said alias Taata Juma, a resident of Kanyogoga zone in Makindye division, who was shot dead alongside Mustafa Kawaawa alias Amin, a resident of Maganjo in Sseruwumba zone, Wakiso district and Idris Juma Sserwadda alias Shakibu.

July 11: Three suspected dealers in fake Covidex were arrested with 300 pieces of a fake product in different parts of Kampala.

July 12: Police chief, Martins Okoth Ochola overhauled the force again, by restructuring its core units to enhance efficiency. Ochola first reorganised the Police after his appointment as Inspector General of Police (IGP) by President Yoweri Museveni in 2018.

July 13: Police launched investigations into the mysterious death of four members of the same family in Kiwale village, Nyimbwa subcounty in Luwero district.

July 14: The Police placed a sh20m bounty on the head of Sheikh Abu Ubaida Badir Diin Bukenya, who is alleged to be the mastermind of a number of high-profile murders in the country.

July 15: Police revealed that terrorists, especially the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) were targeting bodaboda riders for recruitment to facilitate attacks in Uganda.

July 15: The Uganda Police Force was hunting for a group of iron bar-wielding thugs who attacked and severely injured a prominent Kyambogo College School science teacher, Naboth Mpeirwe, in broad daylight.

July 15: Five Police officers were arrested in connection with the shooting of a 19-year-old youth at Kalerwe Market. George William Muganga Ssejjemba alias Reward Sixteen, a resident of Kanyanya in Kawempe division, was allegedly shot dead by the Police officers that were trying to disperse demonstrators who had stormed the market over unpaid arrears.

July 17: Police were investigating a renowned city court bailiff, Moses Kirunda, in connection with an incident where a city businessman was shot dead in Nateete, Rubaga division. Magidu Mugwanya was shot dead in Nateete’s Factory zone, a city suburb.

July 18: The Police interrogated a prison warder who was picked together with 14 other people from Kikomeko village in Luwero district following the arrest of one of the prime suspects in the attempted assassination of the works and transport minister, Gen. Katumba Wamala.

July 21: With about nine days left to the end of the 42-day lockdown, the Police stepped up enforcement measures instituted to stem the spread of COVID-19.

July 26: The Police’s Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) launched investigations into a suspected baby selling scheme after 14 children were rescued in Muyenga, a city suburb.

July 27: Security agencies led by the Police are yet to arrest the gang that trailed and intercepted an accountant, and later robbed him of sh5m along Mawanda Road in Kampala. The businessman, Jiwan Lal, an accountant working with Rigil Agro Peck Limited, was trailed by a daring gang of 14 thugs wearing hoods, caps and riding on seven motorcycles.

August 02: The Police disciplinary court sitting in Arua city finally determined the fate of six Police officers accused of aiding the escape of a hardcore criminal. The chairman of the disciplinary court, commissioner of Police Ubaldo Bamunoba, sentenced Joshua Twongo, the acting District Police Commander (DPC) of Zombo and two other accomplices to recommendation for dismissal after court found them guilty of the charges levied against them.

August 03: The territorial Police in Kampala Metropolitan area tracked and arrested 12 suspects in connection with the robbery of one Jiwan Lal, an accountant working with Rigil Agrotech.

August 10: There is an increasing demand from private individuals in the country to acquire firearms, Police said. Police said the number of persons applying for firearm permits through the Ministry of Internal Affairs is noticeably going up.

September 28: Security held a man who was allegedly trying to protect a man who defiled his 10-year old daughter. It is alleged that Peter Oundo, the father of the victim tried to conceal information about Yelobwam Bwire, 67, a deputy vice-chairperson of Bugongi village, in Masinya sub-county, Busia district.

September 28: Police spokesperson Fred Enanga reported that 29 women were deported from Saudi Arabia in one week. He said all the deportees returned on emergency travel certificates. “Upon interviewing them, they claimed to have suffered lots of mistreatment and harassment from their employers. All of them used emergency travel certificates to return for they say their passports were confiscated by their employers,”

Police spokesperson Fred Enanga

September 28: Police intercepted 14 Ugandan migrant workers with forged Interpol letters at Entebbe International Airport. They were destined for Saudi Arabia. “They were being escorted by the operations manager of Security Link, Mubarak Kikomeko, who is still detained by the Aviation Police pending further investigation.

September 30: Police in Kampala investigated an incident in which unknown people attacked Patrick Katatanzi, the chief manager corporate section at Centenary Bank, Mapeera House. Criminal Investigations spokesperson Charles Twine said unknown people attacked and poured acid on Katatanzi as he was heading home.

October 01: Police summoned former presidency minister Esther Mbayo over alleged abuse of office and embezzlement, resulting in financial loss to the Government amounting to sh3b.

October 01: The Uganda Police Force and the family of Patrick Katatanzi, the chief manager of the corporate section of Centenary Bank, Mapeera House who suffered an acid attack moved him to undisclosed hospital for his safety.

October 5: The Nsangi Police commander, Medard Asiimwe, was arrested for allegedly shooting dead a bricklayer in a scuffle. The deputy Police spokesperson Kampala metropolitan, Luke Owoyesigyire, identified the deceased as John Kaluba alias Kenzo, who was pronounced dead upon arrival at a private medical facility, where he had been rushed for treatment.

October 05: A pastor has been arrested for allegedly impregnating four minors in two separate foster homes that he operates in Buwenge, Jinja district. The deputy chairperson of the National Prevention of Trafficking in Persons offi ce at the internal affairs ministry, Agnes Igoye, identified the suspect as Pastor Robert Masiga of Christ the Answer Church. Masiga operates two foster homes which have a total of 54 children, mainly orphans. The children at the centres – both girls and boys – are said to be aged between three and 17. They hail from Luuka, Tororo and Jinja districts

October 07: New details emerged about a suspected terrorist who was shot dead by security operatives in Kyebando, a Kampala suburb. Police spokesperson Fred Enanga identified the victim as Hamidu Nsubuga. He said upon searching his body, they recovered a pistol, bullets and other exhibits.

October 08: The Police wanted to repossess the land it leased to UNAFRI at Naguru in Kampala for security reasons, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Martins Okoth Ochola, has said. Appearing before the parliamentary committee on defence and internal affairs on Wednesday, Ochola said part of the leased land hosts the national CCTV command centre, posing a threat to national security.

October 8: More than 800 vehicles used in crime and traffic offences, including interfering with the presidential convoy, were seized. The cars impounded by the Police across the country include sports utility vehicles (SUVs) and cargo trucks. Some are said to have been used in kidnaps and robberies. Parked at different Police stations, the cars were impounded in the past two months, according to the Police. Sources say last year, 440 cars were impounded.

October 11: The Uganda Police has expressed reservations regarding the idea of scrapping the certificate of good conduct as a requirement for job seekers in the Middle East. Applicants for jobs in the Middle East are required to present a certificate of good conduct to show whether they have a criminal record or not.

October 12: The Police warned the newly formed opposition pressure group, the People’s Front for Transition (PFT), against conducting what they called ‘unlawful assemblies and meetings’, which they intend to hold in different parts of the country.

Dr. Kizza Besigye launches People’s Front for Transition (PFT) in Gulu

October 12: The 2020 annual Uganda Police report was released. According to the report, a total of 14,230 children were defiled, 14,080 of whom were girls and 140 boys. The statistics further indicated that 1,280 were children aged 0-8 years, while 2,980 were in the age bracket of 9-14 and 9,954 were aged 15-17. About 120 of the children were defiled by their parents, 120 by their guardians, 52 by teachers and 301 by persons who are HIV positive.

October 12: Three men were charged with the murder of the Ntoroko district National Resistance Movement (NRM) chairperson. Barnabas Alleluya, 31, Herbert Mutamba, 43, and driver Deus Ahimbisibwe, 41, appeared at the General Court Martial in Makindye, Kampala.

October 14: Police in Mukono arrested two men who allegedly invaded the home of state minister for defence Jacob Oboth disguised as staff of electricity distributor Umeme.

The men disguised as Umeme technicians

October 19: A pastor and an engineer were among the 13 suspected rebels arrested by security agencies led by the Police in the latest crackdown on armed criminals in the country. A joint security task force responsible for countering subversive activities arrested the suspects in the West Nile region and Kasese over the weekend.

October 19: The Police in Kampala arrested two men in connection with an incident in which Aziz Bashir, 40, a former driver with the UN and also resident of Mengo was killed by a mob. Bashir was killed after he reportedly knocked a bodaboda rider while in pursuit of another rider that had scratched his car but rode off.

October 28: Lyantonde Police and detectives from Kireka-based-Special Investigations Division (SID) bust a group of conmen who use human skulls to con businessmen of huge sums of money.

October 28: A Police officer was among the suspects who have been arrested over the lynching of a former UN employee by a bodaboda mob in Mengo, Kampala. Sources said the policeman who was attached to Naggalama Police Station, was arrested at a bodaboda stage in Mengo near the scene, where Abdul Aziz Bashir, 42, was killed. Like many Police officers who are supplementing their income by working as bodaboda riders, sources said the policeman has been operating from Mengo.

November 1: Eight more suspects were arrested in connection with the bomb explosions on a bus in Mpigi district and at a pork joint at Komamboga. Two people, including a suspected suicide bomber died in the two incidents and several others were injured.

November 2: At least 40 other suspects were arrested from different parts of the country by a joint team of security forces in an intensified hunt for last week’s Kampala and Mpigi bombers, believed to belong to cells operated by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF).

November 2: Police arrested 2,436 pedestrians who allegedly to have been violating the provisions of the night curfew during the ongoing enforcement of the COVID-19 related restrictions. Addressing a press conference in Kampala yesterday, Police spokesperson Fred Enanga said the suspects were arrested in different parts of the country in the one week.

November 6: Security agencies carried out a successful cordon and search operation in Kawempe Division, where they recovered a bag containing a suicide belt with suspected explosives, and an assortment of bomb-making materials. Police also recovered a gun with 14 rounds of ammunition. Security also raided Kireka B village on Mityana Road after they received intelligence reports that Yusuf Muwonge, a suspected terrorist who had alighted from Swift Coach before the bomb exploded, had been sighted in the area.

November 8: Uganda Police Force Directorate of the Human Resource officially sent off 49 senior Police officers after hitting their retirement age. Among those retired are six people at the rank of Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIGP). Grace Turyagumanawe who was heading the Directorate of Peace and Support Operations, Moses Balimwoyo (director Interpol), Asuma Jawad Mugenyi (director operations services), Lemmy Twinomugisha (director of welfare and production), Steven Kasiima (director traffic) and Godfrey Bangirana, the former director of logistics and engineering.

November 10: Policeman held over shooting fiancée dead.  Corporal Sam Ewuku, the suspect was the official driver of Kampala Metropolitan South Regional Police Commander while the deceased is Sarah Nabukenya, a teacher at Buddo Preparatory Primary School.

November 11: Police in Nansana, Wakiso district arrested four men who were suspected to be part of the machete-wielding gangs terrorising people and stealing their property. Those arrested are Moses Ssemayiga, 18, Jamada Ngobi, 19, Henry Mpiima, 20 and Twaha Kyambadde, 20. They are all residents of Katooke in Nansana municipality.

November 24: The Police in Kalungu district arrested four people for alleged exhuming and trading in human remains. The suspects were identified as Deogratius Lukowe, 40; his wife Yudaya Namatovu, 30; businesswoman Regina Nakyanzi and Dan Wassajja, a shamba-boy, all residents of Lutente cell in Lukaya town council.