Police Reacts on Charging Canine Dogs Services

Kampala– Members of Parliament (MPs) seating on Public Accounts Committee (PAC) have tasked the Police leadership led by Deputy Inspector General of Police James Ochaya to explain why Police officers charge citizens high amount of money wherever they seek for services of canine Unit.

Legislators heard that as much as sniffer dogs have to be free of charge, people are charged Shs200,000 for a sniffer dog to be deployed at a crime scene.

During the scrutiny of the December 2025 Auditor General’s report, the Deputy Inspector of Police, James Ochaya has revealed that Uganda Police Force is going to investigate circumstances under which various police stations are charging Ugandans to use services of canine dogs, yet the feeding, welfare and shelter of these dogs is already funded by taxpayers.

In the same way, Ocaya disclosed that “In the month of January and February alone countrywide, we arrested a total of 7,159 suspects and of these, 3,724 were taken to court. In Kampala metropolitan area alone, 3,512 arrests were made and 1,935 criminals were arraigned before court.”

He added “We recovered several exhibits which include guns, hangars, house breaking implements, assorted vehicle parts, motorcycles, drugs which include marijuana, we also recovered coffee and livestock among others. We however still face a challenge of individuals, companies and mobile money agents that deal in large sums of money without having adequate security. This has acted as a bait for criminals.”

Ochaya’s response was akin to opening a can of worms as MPs led by Aogon testified how their voters are always bombarding them with calls to send money to pay Police to hire the canine dogs, prompting some MPs to question Police top management’s capabilities in monitoring stations across the country.

Hon. Silas Aogon (Kumi Municipality) reported that residents in his area are charged an average of UGX300,000 for every crime.

Deputy Inspector General of Police, James Ochaya said that an investigation will be launched into this and also revealed that they are procuring specialised to improve the deployment of dogs especially in rural areas.

The Deputy Inspector of Police, James Ochaya has revealed that Uganda Police Force is going to investigate circumstances under which various police stations are charging Ugandans to use services of canine dogs, yet the feeding, welfare and shelter of these dogs is already funded by taxpayers.

He made the revelation while appearing before Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee on 10th March 2026, during the scrutiny of the December 2025 Auditor General’s report, following complaints raised by

In response, Ochaya expressed shock that Ugandans are being charged for the canine services noting, “Canine services? These are free services. I don’t know how it comes against our officers.”

He added “We recovered several exhibits which include guns, hangars, house breaking implements, assorted vehicle parts, motorcycles, drugs which include marijuana, we also recovered coffee and livestock among others. We however still face a challenge of individuals, companies and mobile money agents that deal in large sums of money without having adequate security. This has acted as a bait for criminals.”

The high charges levied by the Police Canine Unit to have sniffer dogs deployed to crime scenes has riled Members of Parliament who demanded an explanation from the leadership of the force.

While meeting officials from the Uganda Police Force, the MPs on the Public Accounts Committee (Central) demanded to know why the public is being charged and yet the service is supposed to be free according to the available policy in the force.