A total of 800 political and electoral offence cases were reported in 2025, according to the Annual Crime Report 2025.
The Director of the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID), AIGP Tom Magambo, revealed the figures on Monday during the report’s launch at Police Headquarters in Naguru.
Magambo noted a sharp increase of 695 cases compared to 105 incidents recorded in 2024. He attributed most of the offences to parliamentary contests and local political rivalries rather than presidential elections.
Despite the rise, he described the recent electoral period as one of the most peaceful in recent history, citing the absence of widespread violence and looting, particularly in Kampala.
Land Disputes on the Rise
Land-related conflicts emerged as a major and growing concern. Police recorded 663 direct land dispute cases in 2025, up from 397 in 2024, representing a 67 percent increase.
However, Magambo clarified that the figure reflects only direct disputes.
“Many related crimes such as trespass, assault, and even murder linked to land conflicts are recorded under different categories, meaning the actual scale of the problem is much larger,” he explained.
He attributed the surge to the rising value of land and increasing development pressures, calling for legal reforms, improved land management systems, and stronger stakeholder engagement.
Decline in Terrorism and Other Crimes
The report indicates a significant drop in terrorism-related cases, from 26 in 2024 to just 8 in 2025. All suspects linked to these cases are currently undergoing due process within the criminal justice system.
Other crimes, including environmental offences, wildlife crimes, attempted suicide, animal theft, and kidnapping, also registered a decline.
However, narcotics remain a growing concern. Although cases handled dropped by 30 percent, Magambo warned that drug use, especially among young people, is on the rise.
“There is growing alarm over the infiltration of drugs into schools and homes. On average, a serious drug-related case emerges every two weeks, often involving youth,” he said, calling for stronger national action and collaboration.
Case Management and System Challenges
In 2025, a total of 150,301 cases were submitted to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), with 27,291 taken to court. Police secured 31,000 convictions from 24,899 concluded cases.
Despite this progress, some cases were dismissed or resulted in acquittals, while others remain pending due to case backlog.
Magambo also highlighted the persistent challenge of misclassifying civil disputes as criminal cases, which increases workload for investigators and prosecutors. Such cases are often redirected to civil courts.
The CID continues to face staffing constraints, with an average caseload of 54 cases per officer, far exceeding the recommended ratio of 12 cases per officer. This has significantly contributed to delays in investigations.
Crime Trends
The report shows a general decline in most crime categories:
- Theft remained the most reported offence with 56,360 cases, though slightly reduced
- Assault cases dropped by 10.8 percent to 26,356
- Sex-related offences stood at 12,606 cases (6.4% of total crime)
- Domestic violence cases declined by 12.2 percent to 12,361
- Economic and corruption-related crimes totaled 11,548 cases
- Break-ins reduced by 12.5 percent to 11,808
- Obtaining by false pretences dropped to 8,465 cases
- Child-related offences fell by 14 percent to 8,064
- Robbery cases declined by 3.7 percent to 7,863
- Malicious damage to property dropped to 7,303
- Criminal trespass cases stood at 6,467
Despite the overall decline, Magambo emphasized that crimes affecting children and other vulnerable groups remain a serious concern.
He said that sustained collaboration with stakeholders, improved data analysis, and targeted district-level interventions will be critical in maintaining and accelerating the downward trend in crime.
