Individual Corruption

According to the Inspectorate of Government 2008, the general police and traffic police are perceived to be the most corrupt public institution. This is also supported by Afrobarometer 2010, where a substantial percentage of the household respondents believe that most of the police officers are involved in corruption. According to a 2009 news article by IPS, citizens know ‘the policeman’s language’, meaning give the traffic police a small bribe in order to avoid a penalty ticket. The source further reports that poor welfare and income are main factors causing widespread corruption in the police force.

Similarly, the US Department of State 2009 reports that corruption and impunity pervade the police. Thus, by the end of 2009, 24 police officers had been charged with corruption, although none had been dismissed for accepting bribes.

Business Corruption

Companies in the World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report 2010-2011 identify organised crime and the business costs of crime and violence in Uganda as competitive disadvantages in the country. Companies also report police protection related to these issues as being unreliable.

Political Corruption

According to Global Integrity 2009, in practice, the law enforcement agencies are not protected from political interference. It is further reported that appointments to the police are not always made according to professional criteria, as they are often based on political or ethnic considerations. Police effectiveness is undermined by patronage, nepotism and other corrupt tendencies. One example of that is the appointment of Major General Kale Kayihura as police chief by president Museveni in 2007, and according to Global Integrity 2008, Kale Kayihura is expected to work in accordance with the President’s expectations, effectively allowing political influence over the police force.

Frequency

World Economic Forum: The Global Competitiveness Report 2010-2011:
- Business executives give the reliability of police services a score of 4.0 on a 7 point scale (1 'cannot be relied upon at all' and 7 'can always be relied upon').

Transparency International: Global Corruption Barometer 2010:
- 79% of households who had contact with the police in 2009 report to have paid a bribe.

- Citizens give the police a score of 4.6 on a 5-point scale (1 being 'not at all corrupt' and 5 'extremely corrupt').

Afrobarometer: Summary of Results Uganda 2010:
- 27%, 36% and 31% of the respondents in this household survey considered some, most or all of the police to be corrupt.

Transparency International: East African Bribery Index 2010:
- The Ugandan police are ranked as the second most corrupt institution in Uganda, out of 28 institutions in the country.

-The average size of bribe reported as paid by a household respondent is UGX 56,246.

-Of all the bribes reportedly paid by the household respondents, 11.8% was paid to the police.

Inspectorate of Government: The 3rd National Integrity Survey 2008:
- Roughly 88% of the surveyed households identify both the police and the traffic police as the most corrupt institutions in Uganda.