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🇺🇬 Uganda /Crime & Justice

Ugandans Identify Basic Services As Priorities for Government Intervention, Report High Levels of Bribery When Trying to Access Some of Them

From AllAfrica Uganda · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

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  • Ugandans prioritize basic services like health and education, but face significant difficulties and bribery when accessing them.
  • Majorities report struggling to get police assistance, medical care, and identity documents, with bribe-paying rates increasing since 2017.
  • While citizens support higher taxes for health and education, half prefer lower taxes even with fewer services, indicating a complex public sentiment.

Ugandans consistently identify health and education as top priorities for government action, yet a significant portion of the population experiences difficulties and widespread bribery when attempting to access these essential services. Health care was cited by 51% of respondents as a key government focus, followed by education at 34% and infrastructure at 32%.

Majorities found it difficult to obtain police assistance (69%), medical care (65%), and an identity document (58%).

— Report FindingsDetailing the difficulties citizens face accessing public services.

When seeking public services, majorities found it difficult to obtain police assistance (69%), medical care (65%), and identity documents (58%). The problem of corruption is stark, with 74% of those seeking police help reporting they paid a bribe. Significant shares also paid bribes for IDs (51%) and medical treatment (41%), and reports of such payments have notably increased since 2017.

Three-fourths (74%) say they paid a bribe to receive police assistance, while significant shares report paying bribes to obtain an ID (51%) and medical treatment (41%).

— Report FindingsQuantifying the prevalence of bribery in accessing services.

Despite these challenges, citizens express a willingness to support higher taxes specifically for education (75%) and health care (74%). However, this support is tempered by a broader preference for lower taxes, with half of all citizens favoring fewer government services in exchange for reduced tax burdens. This sentiment has remained consistent since 2012.

half (50%) of all citizens would prefer to pay lower taxes even with fewer government services, while only 43% would favour higher taxes in exchange for more services

— Report FindingsIllustrating the public's complex stance on taxation and services.

While Uganda has seen improvements in public service delivery in recent years, particularly in healthcare and water supply, substantial challenges persist. Issues include inadequate funding for decentralized government structures, mismanagement of funds, spiraling debt, corruption, low staffing levels, and poor infrastructure, all hampering the government's ability to provide adequate services.

citizens would support higher taxes to fund education (75%) and health care (74%).

— Report FindingsHighlighting specific areas where citizens favor tax increases.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by AllAfrica Uganda. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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