POLICE CCTV EXTORTION! Police Accused of Charging Crime Victims for ‘Free’ Camera Footage
President Museveni at Natete Police CCT Camera Command Control
KAMPALA — A fresh storm is brewing within the Uganda Police Force after allegations emerged that some officers are demanding money from crime victims before helping them access footage from the national CCTV surveillance network.
Several victims in Kampala claim they have been asked to part with between Shs30,000 and Shs50,000 to have public cameras checked, despite police leadership insisting that investigating crimes through CCTV is a core police responsibility and should not come at a personal cost to complainants.
One of the victims is Amon Agaba, a resident of Nankulabye-Kiwunya, who says he is now struggling to recover his motorcycle after the man he entrusted it to disappeared.
Agaba told URNthat he gave his motorcycle, registration number UGB 271Z, to his friend Robert Magezi of Nansana under an arrangement in which Magezi would remit Shs30,000 daily.
According to Agaba, Magezi paid consistently for about three months before disappearing on August 24, 2026, with his phones reportedly going off on August 30.
After about two weeks of searching, Agaba reported the matter at Old Kampala Police Division under reference number 48/01/09/2026.
Agaba says the officer who recorded his case told him police could use CCTV footage to trace Magezi because he operated around Nansana Division, an area covered by public surveillance cameras.
But Agaba alleges that before the cameras could be checked, the officer demanded Shs50,000.
“The officer gave the reference and said he was going to help me, by going into the CCTV camera room to trace for the suspect wherever he rides. The officer then asked me for 50,000 shillings, but I only had 30,000 shillings in my wallet. He said I can pay that amount, which I did,” Agaba said.
He claims that after receiving the money, the officer entered the CCTV room together with another officer in charge of cameras.
After about five minutes, Agaba says they returned and told him that the suspect’s movements had been reviewed, advising him to check at Nansana, Rubigi and the City Mortuary.
Agaba says he went to Nansana and Rubigi the following morning but failed to find Magezi.
At Nansana, he alleges that officers again demanded Shs30,000 to check the cameras, money he could not afford.
He is now stranded without his motorcycle, which he says was a major source of income for his family, and is appealing to police authorities to intervene, trace the suspect and recover the motorcycle.
Another victim, Charles Ssempala, says his motorcycle, registration number UGF 387N, disappeared from outside the Natete Police Station quarter guard area on April 9, 2026.
Ssempala says he had accompanied his brother to the station to stand surety and process a police bond for a colleague.
According to him, officers on duty directed them to park their motorcycles outside the station together with other motorcycles.
But after spending only about 20 minutes inside the station, Ssempala says they returned to discover his motorcycle was gone.
He alleges that officers at the quarter guard denied responsibility for the security of the motorcycles, despite the theft reportedly occurring in broad daylight near the station entrance.
When he sought CCTV footage to establish what happened, Ssempala alleges that he was told he would have to pay before the footage could be reviewed.
In Najjanankumbi, electronics shop owner Musa Okello says his business was raided shortly after midnight by two men who allegedly smashed into the shop, emptied phones from the display and escaped on a boda boda.
Okello says two public CCTV cameras mounted on nearby junction poles captured the incident.
However, he alleges that when he reported the matter, the detective who received his complaint told him the images were clear but the system was busy and the technical team needed “facilitation” for airtime, transport and other expenses to speed up the process.
Okello says he paid Shs50,000, followed by additional payments days later allegedly described as money for “fuel” to retrieve footage from the command centre and coordinate with other police stations.
The allegations have also spilled onto social media, where members of the public have complained that CCTV footage is allegedly retrieved quickly when well-connected or high-profile victims are involved, while ordinary complainants are sometimes asked to pay.
But police spokesperson Kituuma Rusoke has condemned the alleged practice, insisting that CCTV-assisted investigations are part of police work and should not become a money-making venture for officers.
“It is completely a role of police to carry investigations with the help of cameras, not for personal payment of complainants,” Kituuma said.
Kituuma acknowledged that some officers illegally demand money for CCTV checks, but said such conduct is unlawful and urged victims to help police identify the culprits by providing evidence.
“Cleaning wrong elements is a role of every citizen, but Ugandans have accepted the wrong process, they pay to those people for services which is completely free,” he said.
He added: “Come to us, show us the evidence, we can even cover you, for the sake of cleaning our environment.”
According to Kituuma, victims who require CCTV footage can formally write to the Regional Police Commander, providing details of the incident, what they are seeking and the reasons for requesting the footage.
He said footage can be released, particularly in circumstances where there are concerns of connivance or tampering.
Police have further directed members of the public who are asked to pay for CCTV access to report the officers to the Professional Standards Unit (PSU), which is mandated to investigate and discipline errant officers.
THE CCTV PROMISE
The allegations come against the backdrop of the government’s ambitious national CCTV project, which was ordered by President Yoweri Museveni in his June 2018 address to Parliament following a wave of high-profile killings, including the murders of AIGP Andrew Felix Kaweesi and Arua Municipality MP Ibrahim Abiriga.
Government initially planned to install 3,233 cameras across Kampala Metropolitan in the first phase.
By July 2019, police said more than 2,547 cameras had been installed and linked to the National Command Centre at Naguru.
The network has since been expanded beyond Kampala to other cities.
The CCTV system was intended to strengthen crime prevention, surveillance and investigations — but the latest allegations have raised questions over whether ordinary crime victims are being forced to pay to benefit from a public security infrastructure funded by taxpayers.
For victims such as Agaba, Ssempala and Okello, the question is now whether the cameras installed to help ordinary Ugandans fight crime are actually accessible to them without having to first produce cash.
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