Business Corruption

According to Global Integrity 2009, company inspections by Ugandan government officials to ensure public environmental standards are not always carried out in a uniform and even-handed manner, since the officials sometimes extract bribes from companies in exchange for favourable treatment or expedited processing. The institutional capacity to carry out inspections is quite limited as they are understaffed and underfunded. Corruption and lack of capacity reportedly fuel poor and hazardous working conditions as well as environmental degradation, particularly in the agricultural and mining sectors.

Furthermore, Uganda's oil contracts reportedly lack transparency, both on the part of the foreign oil companies and the government, according to a March 2010 article by AllAfrica. According to the source, this might enable corruption and environmental degradation by the oil companies.

Political Corruption

There have been concerns about transparency in Uganda's oil contracts regarding the government. Further concerns include that these contracts would be flawed, according to a March 2010 article by Inter Press Service. Allegedly, this is the reason why the Ugandan government does not want to disclose their contents. Concerns have also been raised over the fairness of oil deals after details emerged that President Museveni held direct talks with oil investors without including government agencies. According to a 2010 report by PLATFORM in partnership with the Civil Society Coalition for Oil in Uganda, there are currently three pending lawsuits against the Ugandan government for keeping secret the oil production sharing agreements (PSAs) that it has signed with various international oil companies. The report further states that by keeping the PSAs secret, it further fuels unnecessary social consequences, among others, corruption and environmental degradation.

Fish breeding spots on lakes George and Edward in Uganda are threatened due to illegal fishing fuelled by corruption, as reported in a December 2009 article by The New Vision. According to the article, public officials in the Kasese district fisheries department are fully aware of these illegal practices, but regularly accept bribes in order not to interfere.

According to a 2008 news article by Anti-Corruption Coalition Uganda, corruption within the water sector is widespread, and many contractors are rewarded contracts as a result of non-transparent procurement procedures, bribery, or their connections. This has caused an uneven supply of clean water in Uganda.

In October 2011, an MP accused foreign minister Sam Kutesa, Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi and Interior Minister Hilary Onek of taking multi-million dollar bribes from a United Kingdom-based company, Tullow Oil. In December 2011, Uganda's Constitutional Court halted the Parliament's oil bribery investigation, according to a 2011 article by Daily Monitor.

Frequency

Inspectorate of Government: The 3rd National Integrity Survey 2008:
- 33% of companies identify the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) as dishonest and nearly 25% reported that the services it provides are poor.