The Uganda Police Force (UPF) has raised alarms over proposed budget cuts that threaten critical operations, warning that reductions in the non-wage component—set to decrease by Shs43 billion—could affect staffing, training, and equipment maintenance.
Documents before Parliament show the budget for uniforms will drop from Shs23 billion in 2025/26 to Shs15.4 billion, while staff training allocations are set to fall from Shs41 billion to Shs23.4 billion.
The Police argue these cuts could undermine their capacity to maintain law and order.
"We also need to point out that the Cabinet approved funding for the sub-county policy model. In this financial year, we were supposed to receive UGX241 billion, out of which we received only Shs50 billion and with the Shs50 billion, we have been able to open 200 sub-county stations with that money," said Aggrey Wunyi, Under Secretary of the Force.
Wunyi emphasized that insufficient funding will affect the implementation of the presidential directive to establish a police station in all over 2,000 sub-counties.
"If we got enough support and we get all the Shs241 billion, it will make a very big impact in the country as far as the sub-county police model is concerned," he added.
The Police Force has been allocated Shs925.12 billion for the next financial year, a significant reduction from the Shs2.5 trillion initially proposed.
Officials warn that this shortfall could hinder operational readiness, particularly with the 2026 general elections approaching.