By KT Reporter
Elderly Ugandans are the least concerned about corruption, even though the vice remains among the country’s top four public worries, according to a new report from Twaweza’s Sauti za Wananchi survey.
According to the 2025 report, 27 per cent of Ugandans cited corruption as a key national concern, ranking just below unemployment, health services, and inflation.
However, this concern is not shared equally across demographic groups. While youth and middle-aged citizens (25-44 years) expressed high concern about corruption, older Ugandans aged 55 and above showed significantly less interest in the issue.
Meanwhile, the Sauti za Wananchi report also revealed sharp demographic differences in how citizens perceive corruption; wealthier Ugandans (32 per cent) were found to be more concerned about corruption than both poor (25 per cent) and middle-income citizens (24 per cent).
The survey further shows that men (31 per cent) express greater concern about graft than women (23 per cent). Urban residents, particularly those in Greater Kampala, also voiced higher levels of concern compared to their rural counterparts, where corruption ranked much lower among daily priorities.
The findings come amid a series of high-profile corruption scandals and government crackdowns on public officials accused of mismanaging state resources. One of the most notable scandals involved several ministers accused of diverting iron sheets meant for impoverished communities in Karamoja. The iron sheets were part of a 39 billion Shillings supplementary budget approved by Parliament to improve the livelihoods of the people in Karamoja.
Those implicated included the Prime Minister, Speaker of Parliament Anita Among, Finance Minister Matia Kasaija, Vice President Jessica Alupo, Karamoja Affairs Minister Mary Goretti Kitutu, and State Minister for Planning Amos Lugoloobi, among others. While a few officials, such as Kitutu, Lugoloobi, and Nandutu, were charged in court, the majority of those implicated were neither prosecuted nor investigated by Parliament.
In 2021, President Yoweri Museveni, while addressing a gathering as the then Inspector General of Government (IGG), Beti Kamya, launched the lifestyle audit, a new anti-corruption drive, and asked her to go slow on the corrupt officials as they would stop investing their ill-got wealth in Uganda.
“The lifestyle audit is good, but be careful because we are still lucky that our corrupt people are here. They steal the money and they put it here. You see a five-star hotel from corruption. Now, if you concentrate on the lifestyle, then they take the money out and you will have no evidence,” Museveni said.
Beyond the iron sheets scandal, several other high government officials have been implicated in other scandals, but there has been little to no action taken against them.
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