Mo Ibrahim, the founder and chair of the foundation at the news conference. The foundation is committed to supporting African leadership that will improve the economic and social prospects of the people of Africa.(PHOTO ESSAY: Release of the African Governance Index 2009 )

After the dark events of last month's riots in Kampala and the ensuing clampdown on freedom of speech, a new governance report on African countries indicates that Uganda generally performs better on observing rights.

The Mo Ibrahim African Governance Index that ranks all 53 African countries, was released yesterday in South Africa.

In its internal rankings - as opposed to its performance compared to other countries- the index shows Uganda performed better on two categories of "safety and rule of law" and "participation and human rights".

The scores for these two categories are higher than the performance on "sustainable economic opportunity" and "human development".

However, some activists have faulted the report.

Mr Godber Tumushabe of the policy research organisation Advocates Coalition on Development and Environment (Acode), says: "I am surprised because most rankings show we have been regressing on governance and score us better on human development because of social investments like UPE."

According to Mr Robert Sentamu who compiles the Uganda data for the Afro-barometer rankings, the results of the Mo Ibrahim survey are consistent with what people say are their problems today.

"The resolution of the northern war may also explain the boost in the perception of better safety and security" Mr Sentamu added yesterday.

Uganda ranked 24th out of the 53 African countries for a second time putting it in the middle of the spectrum between the worst performing countries topped by Somalia and the best performing led by Mauritius.