Ugandans believe police are 75% corrupt - Survey

Majority of Ugandan respondents in a nationwide survey believe that the country’s police are very corrupt. Pegging police corruption at a whooping 75% with relation to bribery, fraud and extortion.

This was contained in a report titled ‘‘National Service Delivery Survey of 2015’‘ released by the Uganda Bureau of Statistic (UBOS) Tuesday has ranked Uganda Police Force as the most corrupt government institution.

“Majority of the respondents ranked the police as most corrupt government institution. There is need for strengthening enforcement of laws on corruption,” reads the report.

The UBOS’ survey was based on 10,101, the result deepens the corruption perception of Ugandan police who in December last year were ranked as the most corrupt institution in a survey that was conducted by The Afrobarometer in conjunction with Transparency International.

New report by Uganda Bureau of Statistics ranks Uganda Police Force as the most corrupt government institution. pic.twitter.com/AK3eZBmlqn

— Nation FM (@NationFMKe) June 22, 2016

The Afrobarometer study ‘‘People and corruption: Africa Survey 2015’‘ in 36 countries across the Africa region put the police at 63 per cent. Over 69 per cent of the Ugandan respondents said corruption was generally on the increase.

The Uganda’s Daily Monitor also reports that four years ago, the Police Force was named the most corrupt institution in the country in an annual corruption report by the inspectorate of government in collaboration with the Economic Policy Research Center of Makerere University.

The Daily Monitor further reports that, last week; a police commander in Kampala East arrested two of his own officers for allegedly mishandling exhibits. A situation that arose after the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Gen Kale Kayihura had held him responsible for the security lapses during the martyrs’ day celebrations where an 8-year-old girl was raped.

Meanwhile, UBOS’s Executive Director, Mr Ben Paul Mungyereza, has challenged stakeholders to accept and interpret the statistics correctly rather than criticize the body that disseminates them.

“Statistical information reveals other than conceals a situation pertaining say to a sector, a community or other area of interest and concern,” Mr Mungyereza said.