At least 12 people were killed daily last year according to annual crime police report compiled by Criminal Investigations Directorate. The report shows 4,460 people were killed in 12 months of 2020 translating into 12 person killed through assault, poisoning, arson, shooting or mob action.
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CID director AIGP Grace Akullo
Living in Uganda is becoming increasingly precarious as willful and malicious killing by people is claiming ten times more lives than the dreaded Covid-19.
It now emerges that 12
people were killed everyday on average last year, according to annual crime police report
compiled by Criminal Investigations Directorate.
The report
shows 4,460 people were killed in 12 months of 2020 translating into 12 person
killed through assault, poisoning, arson, shooting or mob action.
Most people,
according to the report, were killed through assaults which contributed 1,358
fatalities followed by mob action with 540 murders. Some 547 persons died after being hit with blunt
objects.
“A total of
547 persons were lynched, out of whom, 518 were male adults, 22 were female adults
and 07 were male juveniles. There was no female juvenile lynched in the year
under review,” CID headed by AIGP Grace Akullo indicates.
Akullo indicates
that the year 2020 was a particularly challenging one in terms of maintaining law
and order in the face of a pandemic and a major election. Police say the
containment measures put in place by the government to stop the spread of Covid-19 affected the general administration of justice for all Justice Law and Order
Sector.
The Inspector
General of Police, Martin Okoth Ochola, highlights the challenges, strategies and
recommendations that the Uganda Police Force intends to adopt in fighting
crime. Ochola adds that security efforts have seen crime reduce in 2020.
“Generally,
in the year 2020, there was a 8.9% decrease in the volume of crimes reported to Police
from 215,224 cases reported in 2019 to 195,931 cases reported in the year 2020," Ochola states. "There was also a 4.7% reduction in the number of traffic accidents reported in
2020 from 12,858 accidents reported in 2019 to 12,249 accidents reported in
2020.”
Ochola adds
that Uganda evolves and grows in science and technologies, so too the Police Force
must adopt to these developments and take on roles that reflect the changing
values and expectations of the society they seek to protect.
“This therefore,
entails constant training and equipping of our personnel with more advanced
knowledge, proper attitude and tools to fight crime,” Ochola said.
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Senior Staff Reporter
Joseph Kato is currently a Master's candidate at Makerere University. He holds a Bachelors Degree in Mass Communication from Kampala International University, a Diploma in Journalism and he's also a graduate in Guidance and Counseling.
