Auditor General Raises Concern Over Police Manpower Deficit

The Auditor General, Edward Akol, has raised concerns over the Uganda Police Force’s persistent manpower deficit, saying it continues to hamper effective operations. In his 2025 audit report, Akol notes that the force has a shortfall of more than 23,000 officers, a gap he says must be addressed to improve service delivery across different units. 

Akol highlights several police units facing critical staffing shortages, including the Anti-Theft Stock Unit (ASTU), which currently has a deficit of more than 72 percent. ASTU is one of the most critical police units, having for years confronted cattle thieves, raiders, and armed warriors in the Karamoja and Teso sub-regions.

According to the report, ASTU has only 1,639 personnel deployed against a recommended strength of 5,854, leaving a staffing gap of 72 percent. “Staffing levels across the four ASTU regions are low, with only 1,639 personnel deployed out of the required 5,854, representing a 72% staffing gap. ASTU also faces a significant shortfall in operational fleet capacity, as only 163 (66%) of the required 248 mobile assets are available,” Akol states.

Overall, police numbers submitted to the Auditor General stand at 45,987 officers. This translates into a policing ratio of approximately one officer per 1,000 people (1:1,000), which is far below the United Nations recommended standard of one officer per 500 people (1:500). The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Abas Byakagaba, recently told police personnel that the force is focusing on implementing President Yoweri Museveni’s directive on sub-county-based policing. 

The President said this approach would reduce the concentration of officers in urban areas, especially as criminal elements have increasingly shifted their activities to rural communities. Museveni noted that criminals are targeting cattle farmers, cocoa growers, coffee farmers, and other producers of cash crops. IGP Byakagaba explained that decentralizing police services and bringing them closer to communities would enhance crime prevention and enable quicker response to incidents. He added that the ongoing reorganization of the force prioritizes improving the mindset and operational readiness of personnel.

“This, coupled with adequate anti-crime infrastructure, will position the force to ensure law and order, enabling strategic security, prosperity, and socio-economic transformation in the country,” Byakagaba said. Separately, the Director of Police Health Services, AIGP Dr. Moses Byaruhanga, has warned that staffing shortages within his directorate are undermining effective health service delivery.

Dr. Byaruhanga said the directorate faces critical shortages of clinicians, laboratory personnel, midwives, radiographers, and other medical specialists, resulting in heavy workloads and staff burnout. He further explained that demand for health services has increased significantly due to the growing number of Police Health Centre IIs (HCIIs) and Health Centre IIIs (HCIIIs) across the country. In 2025 alone, police health facilities attended to 644,521 outpatients, representing a 17.56 percent increase from 531,375 patients in 2024.

“Key insights include: children under five years accounted for 10.3% of total attendances, with 4.7% males and 5.6% females. Females aged five years and above formed the majority, accounting for 51.9% of total OPD visits,” Dr. Byaruhanga said.