Ugandans Identify Basic Services As Priorities for Government Intervention, Report High Levels of Bribery When Trying to Access Some of Them

17 July 2026
Afrobarometer (Accra)
By Stevenson Ssevume Male and Ruth Nakayima

Despite preference for lower taxes, citizens would support higher taxes to fund education and health care.

Key findings

  • Public services rank high on citizens' agenda for government action: Health (cited by 51% of respondents) tops the list, followed by education (34%), infrastructure and roads (32%), and water supply (27%). Electricity provision (10%) also places among the top 10 priorities.
  • Service infrastructure, including access to schools, health clinics, police stations, government offices, and water and sanitation facilities, is much more common in urban than in rural areas.
  • Among respondents who say they had contact with the relevant public services:
  • Majorities found it difficult to obtain police assistance (69%), medical care (65%), and an identity document (ID) (58%).
  • Three-fourths (74%) say they paid a bribe to receive police assistance, while significant shares report paying bribes to obtain an ID (51%) and medical treatment (41%).
  • Reports of bribe paying have increased significantly since 2017.
  • Asked whom they would turn to if they had a problem related to government services, respondents are most likely to say their elected local councillor (43%), while others would approach another local government official (29%) or a member of Parliament (14%) for assistance.
  • Modest majorities of Ugandans say the government is performing "fairly well" or "very well" in addressing key basic services, including education (58%), water and sanitation (57%), electricity (55%), and health services (52%), while 49% approve of its performance on maintaining roads and bridges.
  • But if given the choice, half (50%) of all citizens would prefer to pay lower taxes even with fewer government services, while only 43% would favour higher taxes in exchange for more services - a narrow preference that has held steady since 2012.
  • Even so, citizens would support higher taxes to fund education (75%) and health care (74%).

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Uganda has registered significant and sustained improvements in delivery of public services in recent years, including in health-care provision, water supply, and social services. Local government has received positive service-delivery assessments on these fronts, even though the country is heavily reliant on nonstate actors' contributions in these areas (Murphy, 2026).

However, massive challenges remain. The government has moved to increasingly decentralise government structures without the requisite budgets and planning to ensure that local governments can be fiscally sustainable and fully operational (Madu, 2023). Besides resource constraints, the government's ability to provide adequate services has been hampered by mismanagement of funds and spiralling debt-repayment costs (Ministry of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development, 2021; Lakuma, 2023). Further challenges include corruption and a lack of accountability; low staffing levels and inadequate pay for public servants; and poor infrastructure and a lack of equipment, especially in health facilities (Refaqat et al., 2025; RTI International, 2015; Mulindwa, 2024; Parliament of Uganda, 2025; Mwesigwa, 2022; Lakuma, 2023).

In response, the National Planning Authority (2025) has developed public-sector transformation programmes aimed at improving efficiency and responsiveness. Meanwhile, community members monitor and report on service-delivery issues in community meetings called barazas. However, a randomised control trial of barazas found that they have no impact on overall public-service delivery (Mogues, Van Campenhout, Miehe, & Kabunga, 2023).

Against this backdrop, how do ordinary Ugandans view delivery of public services in Uganda?

Afrobarometer survey findings show that citizens' priorities for government action are dominated by service-delivery issues, beginning with health and followed by education, infrastructure, and water supply.

Among respondents who sought police assistance, public health care, or a government identity document during the preceding year, majorities say it was difficult to obtain what they needed. Reports of graft are widespread: Three-fourths say they had to pay a bribe to get help from the police, while half say the same about picking up an ID.

Even so, majorities say the government is performing well in addressing basic health care, education, water and sanitation, and electricity.

Half of respondents say they would prefer lower taxes even if it means receiving fewer government services, but there is strong support for raising taxes to increase spending on education and health care.

Stevenson Ssevume Male Stevenson Ssevume Male is an associate researcher with Hatchile Consult Ltd. in Kampala, Uganda.

Ruth Nakayima Ruth Nakayima is a research assistant at Hatchile Consult Ltd., the Afrobarometer national partner in Uganda.

Read the original article on Afrobarometer.

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