Corruption in

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

is characterized by grand-scale theft of

public funds Government spending or expenditure includes all government consumption, investment, and transfer payments. In national income accounting, the acquisition by governments of goods and services for current use, to directly satisfy the individual o ...

and petty corruption involving

public officials An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority, (either their own or that of their su ...

at all levels of society as well as widespread

political patronage Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

systems. Elite corruption in Uganda is through a patronage system which has been exacerbated by foreign aid. Aid has been providing the government with large amounts of resources that contribute to the corrupt practices going on within the country. The style of corruption that is used is to gain loyalty and support so that officials can remain in power. One of the more recent forms of corruption is through public procurement because of the lack of transparency with transactions that happen within the government.

Background of Corruption in Uganda

The process of giving gifts for something in exchange has always been a feature in Ugandan tradition. In the past, this practice was the norm and not seen as illegal. This practice of patronage which has been central to politics in Uganda cannot simply be stripped away overnight.

Post-Independence Corruption

Corruption in Uganda is not a new thing. There is a long history of corruption in Ugandan governments. Some of the governments' level of corruption were more extreme than others.

Idi Amin Regime

Uganda under

Idi Amin Idi Amin Dada Oumee (, ; 16 August 2003) was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. He ruled as a military dictator and is considered one of the most brutal despots in modern w ...

was a very repressive state. His military was very aggressive and would kill people if they felt like they opposed the regime in some way, which led to about 100,000 people being killed during his seven years in power. During Amin's rule he took over most businesses that were run by a different race and were given to his cronies. Many businesses began to shut down because of the lack of experience and knowledge the cronies had at running those businesses. All areas of society were being mismanaged and indisciplined. Soon, Uganda under the Amin regime became known for its culture of survival, which made corruption a central aspect to society. Many people left the formal economy and switched to informal institutions where there was no government regulation.

National Resistance Movement (NRM)

When the

National Resistance Movement The National Resistance Movement ( sw, Harakati za Upinzani za Kitaifa; abbr. NRM) has been the ruling party in Uganda since 1986. History The National Resistance Movement (NRM) was founded as a liberation movement that waged a guerrilla ...

gained power in Uganda, its leader

Yoweri Museveni Yoweri Kaguta Museveni Tibuhaburwa (born 15 September 1944) is a Ugandan politician and retired senior military officer who has been the 9th and current President of Uganda since 26 January 1986. Museveni spearheaded rebellions with aid of then ...

was faced with the task of reforming the government. He also had to persuade people to rejoin in the formal economy because the black market and other forms of informal institutions were widespread during the Amin regime. Museveni said that he felt like he adopted the evils of corruption. He had implemented laws and a ten-point program to help put an end to corruption in Uganda. Even though Museveni tried to reform the government, it had little impact on actually stopping corruption.

Foreign Aid

Foreign aid has contributed to corruption in Uganda through the large amounts of money and resources that are sent over. Foreign donors attempted to liberalize the Ugandan economy to try and put a stop to corruption. The

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...

and

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster glo ...

provide assistance to Uganda through

Structural Adjustment Programs Structural adjustment programs (SAPs) consist of loans (structural adjustment loans; SALs) provided by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) to countries that experience economic crises. Their purpose is to adjust the coun ...

. These programs encouraged Uganda to decentralize and privatize. When Uganda began privatization, they were able to do so in a non-transparent way which allowed government officials to obtain these state-owned assets.

Public sector

There are several high corruption risk areas, such as

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...

judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

and procurement. Businesses are particularly vulnerable when bidding public contracts in Uganda because processes are often non-transparent, and under-the-table cash payments are demanded from procurement officers. On

Transparency International Transparency International e.V. (TI) is a German registered association founded in 1993 by former employees of the World Bank. Based in Berlin, its nonprofit and non-governmental purpose is to take action to combat global corruption with civil ...

's 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index, Uganda scored 26 on a scale from 0 ("highly corrupt") to 100 ("very clean"). When ranked by score, Uganda ranked 142nd among the 180 countries in the Index, where the country ranked last is perceived to have the most corrupt public sector. For comparison, the best score was 90 (ranked 1), the worst score was 12 (ranked 180), and the average score was 43.

Anti-corruption efforts

Officials continue to engage in corrupt practices despite laws and institutional instruments that are in place to prevent and punish corruption. In an attempt to combat against corruption, Yoweri Museveni created new institutions at both the local and national level. Donors were attracted to Uganda because of their willingness to reform and stop corruption. Foreign donors began sending conditional aid to help Uganda with its reform process. The aid that Uganda received came in the form of structural adjustment programs, that were formed by the IMF and World Bank. Structural adjustment programs were in the form of conditional loans with reform policies that were meant to help Uganda transition to a more liberalized state.

References

External links

Uganda Corruption Profile
from the Business Anti-Corruption Portal {{Human rights in Uganda

Politics of Uganda Crime in Uganda by type