47 per cent Ugandans robbed in 2016

Kampala. More Ugandans were afraid of crime in the home or had something stolen from them this past year than was the case 10 years ago, results of a countrywide survey have shown.
The survey by the research firm Afrobarometer, however, shows that the number of respondents who say they were physically attacked by criminals has been cut in almost half, from 21 per cent in 2008 to 11 per cent in 2017.
On the whole, the conclusion from the study is that Ugandans feel less safe because of rising insecurity in their communities and a significant number of them are willing to back measures by authorities “necessary to safeguard security” even if the measures may infringe on basic rights.

No police crime reports
The police have not released a crime report for almost three years now, so there is no official data from the Force regarding recent crime countrywide.
In different parts of the country, there has been a seeming rise in crime, with both petty and major crime incidents recorded across the country.

These range from targeted shootings of Muslim clerics and top public officials, including the cold blooded murder by shooting of former police spokesperson Felix Kaweesi in March, the killing of almost 30 women in different areas of Wakiso District, to families being hacked to death by machete-wielding thugs during the dead hours of the night in areas of Masaka and Rakai districts.

In Kampala and neighbouring areas, a gang-like outfit dubbed Kifeesi has run riot in the recent past, committing crimes from snatching phones, laptops, handbags and other valuables to waylaying pedestrians and breaking into houses.

Means of public transport, especially commuter taxis and boda boda motorcycles, have also on many occasions been used for luring passengers and robbing them of their items.
When the Annual Crime and Traffic Safety Report was last released in 2014, the figures showed a year-on-year increase in cases of crime reported to the police, from 99,917 in 2013 to 103,720 in 2014.

The reports showed that incidences of crime had been on the rise.
Murders by shooting, for example, had risen from 131 in 2013 to 158 cases in 2014, the highest in the previous four years. During the time the police crime reports were released in Gen Kale Kayihura’s tenure as police boss, records show that the highest number of crime incidents was in 2007 when 153,924 cases were recorded.
On why the police no longer issue crime reports, Mr Emilian Kayima, who was appointed police spokesperson only this week, promised to consult and get back to us. He had not done so by press time.

Criminals run riot
According to the survey, almost half of the respondents (47 per cent) said they had had something stolen from their home in the year preceding the study, which was the highest percentage in a decade.
In 2008 when Afrobarometer introduced the question in its series of surveys, almost the same number (46 per cent) reported that they had had something stolen from their home in the previous year, but the number had kept falling, with 42 per cent reporting the same in 2012 and to 38 per cent in 2015.

In the two-year period between 2015 and 2017, therefore, the number of respondents who told Afrobarometer that they had lost something in their homes rose by nine percentage points, from 38 per cent to 47 per cent.
On whether the respondents feared crime happening in their home, 45 per cent, the highest number in a decade, said that was the case. This was up from 36 per cent in 2015. In 2008 when Afrobarometer first asked the question, 40 per cent of the respondents said they feared crime in their neighbourhoods.

When the respondents were asked whether they or a member of their family felt unsafe walking in their neighborhood, 32 per cent of them said they indeed felt unsafe walking in their neighbourhoods.
This was higher than in 2015 when 27 per cent of the respondents said they felt unsafe in their neighbourhoods, but lower than the 41 per cent who gave the same answer when the question was first asked in 2012.
Then the respondents were asked whether they had been physically attacked during the year before the poll was conducted.

Those who said they had been physically attacked (11 per cent) almost remained the same as they were in 2015 (10 per cent), although it was almost half of the 21 per cent who said they had been physically attacked in 2008 when Afrobarometer first asked the question.
In the 2012 round 17 per cent of the respondents said they had been physically attacked.

This may suggest that although there may be a spike in crime, the perpetrators of crime try to avoid physically attacking their victims.
“I think it is very important to take note of concerns raised by the research. It is also important to increase our constructive engagement with communities through community policing, investigations and prosecution of offenders. Looking forward to receiving this whole report so that we fully appreciate the contents,” police spokesperson Kayima said.

In March this year, for example, Internal Affairs minister, Gen Jeje Odongo, during an awareness workshop on the proposed Small Arms and Light Weapons Control Bill in Entebbe, said 503 people were killed between 2014 and 2016, while another 1,477 survived with serious gunshot wounds.
The killings, he said, were as a result of shooting involving legal and illegal guns in circulation.

Afrobarometer asked the respondents whether they agree with different hypothetical situations, including whether if faced with threats to public security, people should be free to move about the country at any time of day or night or government should be able to impose curfews and set up special roadblocks to prevent people from moving around in a similar situation.

The pollsters also asked whether the government should be able to monitor private communications, for example on mobile phones, to make sure that people are not plotting violence or whether people should have the right to communicate in private without a government agency reading or listening to what they are saying.

The other question related to freedom of religion and worship and whether the government should or should not have the power to regulate what is said in places of worship, especially if preachers or congregants threaten public security.
If necessary to safeguard security, about half (48 per cent) of respondents say the government should be able to monitor private communications.

More than six in 10 (65 per cent) say the government should be able to impose curfews with the same number also backing the setting up of road roadblocks and 61 per cent backing government regulation of what is said in places of worship.
Where do we rank in the world?
Of the 163 countries assessed in the Global Peace Index (GPI) report 2017, Uganda is ranked as the 59th most dangerous country in the world. War-torn Syria tops the list followed by Afghanistan, Iraq, South Sudan, Yemen, Somalia, Libya and Central African Republic.

Uganda, however, is ranked more peaceful than neighbours Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Kenya and Rwanda.
Mauritius followed by Botswana and Senegal are ranked the most peaceful countries in Africa.
The index measures global peace using three broad themes – the level of safety and security in society, the extent of domestic and international conflict, and the degree of militarisation.

What they steal

In urban and peri-urban areas, thieves usually target gadgets like smart phones, computers and other high-end items like cars, while in rural areas livestock and food and cash crops are usually among the most stolen items.
In December last year, for instance, Inspector General of Police, Gen Kale Kayihura, ranked theft of livestock in rural areas among the top challenges the police faces after fraud in financial institutions and murders.
Mr Ibin Ssenkumbi, then police spokesman of Rwizi region that faced the highest cases of cattle theft then, said 974 cases were reported in his area in 2016 alone. Kiruhura District, from which President Museveni hails, reported the highest cases of livestock thefts, followed by Isingiro and Mbarara districts

About Afrobarometer

With a margin of error of +/-3 per cent and a confidence level of 95 per cent, it statistically means 50 per cent or 44 per cent of Ugandans feel less safe living in Uganda.
Afrobarometer’s Round 7 poll was conducted between December 26, 2016 and January 8, 2017.
The first results of the poll were disseminated in April this year and touched on political dialogue and electoral reforms in the country.

The poll was conducted across the country with adult citizens randomly selected. It was distributed across five regions (Kampala, Central, West, North, and East) and urban/rural areas in proportion to their share in the national population. Every adult citizen had an equal chance of being selected. Face-to-face interviews in the language of the respondent’s choice were conducted.
The Afrobarometer team in Uganda, led by Hatchile Consult, conducted the survey interviewing 1,200 adult Ugandans. The group has conducted surveys across 30 other African countries since 2000. Other surveys were done in 2002, 2005, 2008, 2012 and 2015.

Ahead of the 2011 presidential elections, for example, the Afrobarometer poll predicted President Museveni would win the election with 66 per cent with main rival, Dr Kizza Besigye, garnering only 12 per cent of the vote. Mr Museveni was announced winner by the Electoral Commission with 68 per cent against Dr Besigye’s 26 per cent. It also predicted that Mr Museveni would win the 2016 election.

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