KAMPALA, UGANDA | THE INDEPENDENT | Ugandans are losing 1.5 million shillings in cash every minute to fraudsters, thieves, and robbers. this is according to the latest statistics by the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID).
Records show Ugandans lost over 785 billion shillings in cash to criminals in 2024.
The stolen and robbed cash translates to 2.1 billion shillings per day, 89.6 million shillings per hour and 1.5 million shillings per minute. CID headed by Maj Tom Magambo shows that the largest cash was stolen through false pretence.
At least 474 billion shillings was stolen from Ugandans through false pretence.
Obtaining money by false pretence includes any person who by any false pretence, and with intent to defraud, obtains from any other person anything capable of being stolen, or induces any other person to deliver to any person anything capable of being stolen.
Magambo statistics show out of 474 billion shillings of cash lost by pretence, only 10 billion shillings was recovered. Some of the incidents obtaining money by pretense included 65 billion shillings which was siphoned by eight Equity Bank officials.
Investigators indicated that 65 billion theft from Equity Bank stemmed from fraudulent diversion and disbursement of funds from the bank, in the form of unsecured loans to unqualified people. Detectives indicated that some of the Equity Bank money was diverted to relatives of the suspects.
These created fictitious companies and fraudulently disbursed huge amounts of money that would be picked directly by the staff or indirectly using co-conspirators, proxies or conduits.
Paul Senoga, a software engineer and cyber expert, said digital fraudsters have utilized applications and online transaction mechanisms to fraudulent make transactions from people’s accounts in banks, mobile money accounts and accounts of corporate companies.
Prossy Nabadda, who lost money to fraudsters in a job scam, says she was duped that there were newly opened supermarkets in Entebbe where 30 employees were needed. “The fraudster used the name of one of my former classmates. He said I needed to pay 100,000 shillings for each of the jobs and I needed to pay for my jobless relatives. However, the telephone went off as soon as I sent the money and it was never recovered,” Nabadda said.
Other cases are the 72.3 billion shillings which was lost in theft incidents such as wallet snatching, shop break-ins, shoplifting, pickpocketing and housebreaking.
Corporate companies lost 5.3 billion shillings. Out of these, CID recovered only 249 million shillings.
At least 78.5 billion shillings was embezzled and only 292 million shillings was recovered. “74.2 billion shillings was lost in forgeries and only 14.6 billion shillings was recovered. Counterfeits caused a cash loss of 379 million shillings and only 16.1 million shillings was recovered. Bank cash stolen in transit was 634 million shillings,” Magambo states in the report.
Patrick Onyango in an interview with URN said most of the crimes such as pick-pocketing, burglary, robbery, electronic fraud and financial fraud are committed by young people. Onyango said some of the young people involved in crime are graduates without jobs.
The Inspector General of Police, Abas Byakagaba, said the police will double its efforts toward reducing crime through adequate anti-crime infrastructure.
However, cybercrime seems to be still a big challenge to fight in Uganda.
Other economic crime that involved the theft of cash was at the Bank of Uganda where over 60 billion shillings was stolen through unscrupulous cross-border transactions. At least nine officials including Account General Lawrence Semakula have since been charged and remanded.
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