Political Risk:
High
Score:
48/100
Defence and Security Policy and Policy Transparency
Q1
33/100
Is there formal provision for effective and independent legislative scrutiny of defence policy?
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Parliament and its committees have powers to make laws, approve budgets, invite or summon government officials to appear, give evidence and respond to questions…
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Parliament has tried to use its powers in certain cases, but they are very limited because its resolutions are non-binding on the executive based…
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There have been many confrontational engagements between the Parliament and the executive. However, the executive has always had their way. Therefore, there is a…
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Q2
58/100
Does the country have an identifiable and effective parliamentary defence and security committee (or similar such organisations) to exercise oversight?
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The committee on defence and internal affairs considers policies and budgets of the defence sector. It also has the power to scrutinise any aspect…
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The current composition of the Committee on Defence and Internal Affairs has a serving army officer at the rank of Brigadier General, Felix Kulaigye…
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The Committee on Defence and Internal Affairs rarely disagrees with decisions of the sector and makes a few adjustments in the proposed budget allocations…
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Though the Committee on Defence and Internal Affairs does not issue amendments to budgets and recommendations monthly, it gives definite timeframes within which ministries…
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The Committee on Defence and Internal Affairs conducts long term investigations on current activities, including unclassified operations [1]. However, only activities and operations that…
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Ministries only incorporate recommendations depending on their impact on improving security but ignore those that call for more disclosure of what is deemed classified.…
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Q3
44/100
Is the country’s national defence policy or national security strategy debated and publicly available?
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There are a few instances where debates on defence policy take place on the floor of Parliament and at the executive [1]. However, on…
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The Ministry of Defence and Veterans Affairs (MoDVA) has often informed the Parliament and the country, in general, of imminent security threats [1]. The…
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The defence sector, has in the last five years, held formal consultations which it has called annual review meetings. However, participants at these meetings…
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There is a low level of transparency in the sector because the public is usually given partial information in the guise of not exposing…
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Q4
50/100
Do defence and security institutions have a policy, or evidence, of openness towards civil society organisations (CSOs) when dealing with issues of corruption?
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There is a clear policy of openness when dealing with the CSOs by the Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs (MoDVA) [1, 2]. However,…
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The Constitution of the Republic of Uganda, Access to Information Act, the NGO Act protect freedom of assembly, freedom of association, access to information.…
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The MoDVA and security institutions have started seeking engagements from CSOs on a range of issues, but they do not discuss corruption. The ministry…
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Q5
63/100
Has the country signed up to the following international anti-corruption instruments: UNCAC and the OECD Convention?
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Uganda signed and ratified the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) on September 9, 2004. Uganda is not a major defence exporter [1]. Much…
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Though the United Nation Office of Drugs and Crime 2017 Report on the state of implementation of the UNCAC does not specifically address Uganda’s…
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Q6
63/100
Is there evidence of regular, active public debate on issues of defence? If yes, does the government participate in this debate?
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Academics, journalists, CSOs and other actors, including politicians, political and security analysts, former security officers discuss defence issues amongst themselves regularly on talk shows…
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The government engages in public discussions about defence issues on both public and private media platforms, some government officials participate on panel discussions and…
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Q7
25/100
Does the country have an openly stated and effectively implemented anti-corruption policy for the defence sector?
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The country does not have an anti-corruption policy. However, some laws apply to the defence sector, including Section 118 of the Ugandan People’s Defence…
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Uganda does have an anti-corruption policy that applies to all government ministries. It has a comprehensive anti-corruption legal framework that is provided by the…
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Q8
50/100
Are there independent, well-resourced, and effective institutions within defence and security tasked with building integrity and countering corruption?
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Anti-corruption agencies such as the office of the auditor-general and Inspectorate of Government (IG) [1, 2] and the disciplinary units in the defence sector…
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Compliance and ethics units in the defence sector are in place such as the unit Disciplinary Committee, the General Court Martial and Court Martial…
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According to the Daily Monitor [1], the staff are aware of the corruption risks, but they are unable to address them through their work…
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Q9
NS/100
Does the public trust the institutions of defence and security to tackle the issue of bribery and corruption in their establishments?
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This indicator is not assigned a score in the GDI. The Inspector General of Government’s report 2017 submitted to Parliament for the reporting period…
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Q10
83/100
Are there regular assessments of the areas of greatest corruption risk for ministry and armed forces personnel, and are the findings used as inputs to the anti-corruption policy?
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The Internal Audit Department of the Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF) [1], the Office of the Auditor General [2, 3], and Public Procurement and…
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The Internal Audit Department of the Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF) [1], the Office of the Auditor General [2, 3], and Public Procurement and…
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According to military spokesperson [1] and an interview with the chief of legal services, MoDVA [2], risks assessments are used to develop and regularly…
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Defence Budgets
Q11
92/100
Does the country have a process for acquisition planning that involves clear oversight, and is it publicly available?
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During the budget planning process, the ministry presents a detailed break down of what it intends to spend on in that finacial year. There…
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The government runs a central procurement online portal for all the ministries, and all the parastatals. In this portal, all the required items and…
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According to the defence policy[1], aqusition planning falls under non- operational areas under the section of logistics, procurement and infrastructure. It is stated that…
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Q12
75/100
Is the defence budget transparent, showing key items of expenditure? And it is provided to the legislature in a timely fashion?
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According to the Budget Framework Paper FY 2020/21 for the Ministry of Defence and Veterans Affairs (MoDVA) [1], there are details on what the…
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The legislature receives an accurate defence budget proposal between two to four months before the start of the budget year. Parliament receives the final…
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Q13
50/100
Is there a legislative committee (or other appropriate body) responsible for defence budget scrutiny and analysis in an effective way?
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Article 90 (1) of the Constitution [1] states that Parliament shall appoint standing committees and other committees necessary for the efficient discharge of its…
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The Defence and Internal Affairs Committee meets various high-ranking members of the military and police on a range of issues related to security and…
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Q14
100/100
Is the approved defence budget made publicly available? In practice, can citizens, civil society, and the media obtain detailed information on the defence budget?
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The approved defence budget is open to the public and can be accessed easily since it is uploaded onto the internet. It provides the…
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There are are clear and rubust over sight mechanisms over the ministry defence budget, which which is over seen by the Defence and Internal…
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The defence budget can be accessed easily since the copies are deposited in Parliament. Soft copies can also be accessed from the internet by…
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Q15
42/100
Are sources of defence income other than from central government allocation (from equipment sales or property disposal, for example) published and scrutinised?
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According to the Report of the Auditor General on the Financial Statements of the Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs for the year ended…
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In each government ministry in Uganda, there are internal audit departments. It is from these different reports which are generated by the internal audit…
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Public scrutiny of non-central government sources of funding is minimal or non-existent because of the nature of the sector. Most of the activities are…
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Q16
50/100
Is there an effective internal audit process for defence ministry expenditure (that is, for example, transparent, conducted by appropriately skilled individuals, and subject to parliamentary oversight)?
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The unit is called internal audit department and the process is done every year. It is hard to prove or confirm whether or not…
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The Defence and Internal Affairs Committee receives reports that are heavily redacted. Alleged cases of corruption are widespread in the accounting and budgeting systems…
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The Auditor General is mandated by the constituion to carry out audit functions of any government entity including revewing the internal audit processes. Many…
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The MoDVA answers audit findings usually every year, but some findings have not been answered for close to two years. In his report from…
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Q17
81/100
Is there effective and transparent external auditing of military defence expenditure?
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The auditor general is mandated to audit military defence expenditure for both classified and non-classified expenditures. In his report to Parliament [1, 2], he…
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Sections 28 and 29 of the National Audit Act 2008 provides that the Office of the Auditor General will be funded by the Government…
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These reports on non-classified procurements are full and published every year between 2004 and 2017. The reports are available online [1, 2, 3] for…
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The Ministry failed to implement some recommendations from the Procurement and Disposal Audit Report of the Ministry of Defence and Veterans Affairs[1,2] for financial…
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Nexus of Defence and National Assets
Q18
20/100
Is there evidence that the country’s defence institutions have controlling or financial interests in businesses associated with the country’s natural resource exploitation and, if so, are these interests publicly stated and subject to scrutiny?
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There are no known prohibitions on defence institutions having controlling or financial interests in businesses associated with the country’s natural resource exploitation. Section 209…
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According to many sources, residents in various villages, especially in Hoima and Buliisa districts, alleged that suspected security agents had been threatening landowners to…
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The Daily Monitor reported that the State House Anticorruption Unit and CID were investigating a case where officers of the Police Mineral Protection Unit…
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These interests are not publicly declared and are wholly non-transparent. Most of these activities are done on an individual basis, so the proceeds cannot…
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Parliament scrutinises these interests whenever it receives complaints and petitions, making scrutiny irregular and sometimes superficial. So it is not easy to determine whether…
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Organised Crime
Q19
50/100
Is there evidence, for example through media investigations or prosecution reports, of a penetration of organised crime into the defence and security sector? If no, is there evidence that the government is alert and prepared for this risk?
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There is moderate likelihood of a penetration of organised crime into the defence and security sector. There are no clear or reported cases where…
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The president, his government ad military leaders have admitted that they are aware of the problems of organised crime in defence institutions. They have…
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Q20
0/100
Is there policing to investigate corruption and organised crime within the defence services and is there evidence of the effectiveness of this policing?
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No unit investigates corruption in the military police, soldiers and other members in the defence and security sector. The Police Professional Standards Unit (PSU)…
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This indicator is marked Not Applicable as there is no policing function exercised over the defence sector to investigate corruption or organised crime. The…
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This indicator is marked Not Applicable as there is no policing function exercised over the defence sector to investigate corruption or organised crime. The…
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Control of Intelligence Services
Q21
25/100
Are the policies, administration, and budgets of the intelligence services subject to effective and independent oversight?
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The Committee on Defence and Internal Affairs considers policies and budgets of the defence sector, including the intelligence services. However, it may be subjected…
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The oversight of the committee has little to no influence over intelligence services, so it is not effective. It rarely rejects proposals, policies, budgets…
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Q22
42/100
Are senior positions within the intelligence services filled on the basis of objective selection criteria, and are appointees subject to investigation of their suitability and prior conduct?
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There are objective selection criteria, based on the UPDF Act(2005) which spells out how one can be selected for any assignments but it is…
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According to the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Force (UPDF) Act, there are clear provisions for promotions in the army [1]. However, there have been allegations…
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Section 55 [1] of the UPDF Act 2005 provides the considerations for the promotion of an officer or a militant, where the Board shall…
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Export Controls
Q23
0/100
Does the government have a well-scrutinised process for arms export decisions that aligns with Articles 7.1.iv, 11.5, and 15.6 of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT)?
View QuestionLobbying in Defence
There is no law on lobbying. It is important to note that lobbying is widespread amongst the people who always get deals within the…
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This indicator is marked Not Applicable as there is no legislation regulating lobbying in Uganda that is also applicable to the field of defence/security[1,…
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This indicator is marked Not Applicable as there is no legislation regulating lobbying in Uganda that is also applicable to the field of defence/security[1,…
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This indicator is marked Not Applicable as there is no legislation regulating lobbying in Uganda that is also applicable to the field of defence/security[1,…
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