Govt jobs sold for millions

On paper, Uganda’s District Service Commissions (DSCs) are meant to be guardians of meritocracy.

They oversee who gets hired into local government jobs; teachers, nurses, administrators, the frontline workforce that keeps schools open, health centers running, and services moving.

But a new study suggests the system itself has been captured, leaving applicants and the public footing a heavy bill for corruption.

The report, “An Assessment of the Cost and Extent of Corruption in Recruitment by the District Service Commissions in Uganda,” was released recently by the Inspectorate of Government (IG) in collaboration with the Economic Policy Research Centre at Makerere University.

It paints a damning picture: bribery is not an occasional anomaly in recruitment; it is the rule. According to the study, 82 per cent of job seekers said bribery was the most common form of corruption in the hiring process.

Between 2018 and 2022, applicants were asked for as much as Shs 78 billion in bribes, though only Shs 29 billion actually changed hands. That still translates into about Shs 5.8 billion in bribes paid annually across the 20 districts sampled, roughly Shs 290 million per district each year.

Extrapolated nationwide, the figure balloons to Shs 42.3 billion annually. The going rate depends on the position. For senior roles like Heads of Department, applicants pay between Shs 40to 50 million.

At the bottom of the ladder, jobs for nursing assistants or Grade III primary school teachers require about Shs 3 million in bribes. Sector matters too. The education sector attracted the highest bribe requests, Shs 36.9 billion in total. But the health sector saw the highest actual payments, Shs 12.9 billion, making it the most cash-soaked corner of local recruitment.

The study confirms what many Ugandans have long whispered: who gets hired often depends less on merit than on money. Applicants reported that bribery by candidates and solicitation by DSC members were the key determinants of who made it past shortlists and interviews.

Nepotism and political connections played a role, too, though smaller. Even when recruitment rules were followed, irregularities abounded. Researchers uncovered forged academic documents, impersonation, fake adverts, doctored minutes, and cases where names of non-applicants were “sneaked in” for an appointment.

“The corruption allegations in recruitment include forgery, bribery, political interference, utterance of false documents, favoritism and nepotism,” Inspector General of Government Beti Kamya Turwomwe wrote in the report’s foreword.

“These practices undermine the quality of employees hired, compromise public service delivery, and often lead to significant financial losses to both government and job seekers.”

Several factors have entrenched this corruption. Uganda’s high unemployment rates mean applicants are desperate and willing to pay, according to the report. DSC members are appointed through politically influenced processes, leaving them indebted to local power brokers.

Commissions themselves are underfunded; many members are poorly paid, and some districts lack fully constituted boards. Manual recruitment processes, where applicants interact directly with commission members, make bribery easier.

The study found that bribes are most often demanded during shortlisting and interviews, the very stages where merit should matter most.

“Political interference and influence peddling in the appointment of the District Service Commission members are prevalent, compromising the integrity and independence of the Commissions,” the report notes.

THE COST TO SOCIETY

The costs go far beyond the billions siphoned from applicants. Hiring based on bribes rather than merit means classrooms staffed by under-qualified teachers, health centers run by less competent medical staff, and local government offices filled with individuals chosen for their wallets, not their skills.

Indeed, Kamya warns that the poor-quality services Ugandans experience daily may well be the direct result of corruption at the recruit- ment stage. From drug shortages to underperforming schools, the rot begins with who is hired—and how.

The study recommends sweeping reforms, including changing how DSC members are appointed to reduce political interference and raise minimum qualifications; providing better funding and timely remuneration to commission members to cut incentives for bribe-taking; rolling out human capital management and e-recruitment systems to minimize face-to-face contact between applicants and recruiters; and strengthening oversight by the Public Service Commission while improving training for DSC members.

Without these reforms, the report suggests, corruption will continue to dominate recruitment, undermining both trust in government and the quality of public service delivery.

A FAMILIAR PATTERN

Uganda loses an estimated Shs 9.1 trillion to corruption annually, according to the IGG’s 2021 report. In recruitment alone, bribery has become so normalized that many young graduates now budget for it, seeing it as the price of entry into civil service.

For a country with ambitious development goals and yawning service delivery gaps, the implications are stark. Instead of rewarding competence, the system rewards those with money or connections, creating a cycle of mediocrity and mistrust.

As the awards for Uganda’s “unsung WASH heroes” prepare to honor the country’s best, the revelations from this study serve as a reminder: corruption at the very gateway of public service is still strangling Uganda’s potential.

Until the hiring process itself is cleaned up, the dream of efficient, citizen-centred service delivery will remain just that—a dream.

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