The Director of the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID), Tom Magambo, has reported a 10.2 percent decline in crime in 2025, even as challenges such as case backlog and limited manpower continue to affect investigations.
Speaking at the release of the Annual Crime Report 2025, Magambo said the volume of crimes reported to police dropped from 218,715 cases in 2024 to 196,405 in 2025.
He revealed that CID submitted 115,301 cases to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, of which 79,291 were taken to court, resulting in 31,732 convictions. However, some cases were dismissed, others led to acquittals, while many remain under investigation, contributing to a backlog.
Magambo attributed part of the backlog to the misclassification of civil disputes as criminal cases, noting that many are later redirected to civil courts after review by investigators and prosecutors.
He also highlighted a staffing challenge within CID, revealing that detectives are currently handling an average of 54 cases each, far above the global benchmark of about 12 cases per detective per month.
On crime trends, theft remained the most reported offence with 56,366 cases, although this marked a reduction. Assault cases declined to 26,366 from 29,580 in 2024, representing a 10.8 percent drop.
Sex-related offences stood at 12,506 cases, accounting for 6.4 percent of total crimes, while domestic violence cases fell by 12.2 percent to 12,361.
Economic and corruption-related crimes recorded 11,548 cases, while break-ins dropped to 11,818 from 13,511, reflecting a 12.5 percent decrease. Cases of threatening violence also declined to 8,848.
Despite the overall decline, Magambo cautioned that crime remains a concern, particularly in isolated incidents, and called for increased investment in CID capacity to improve investigations and reduce case backlog.
