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Robert Bylon TwesigyeUganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS)

'Country-led Governance Assessments: Sharing Experiences and Increasing Political Accountability’ – Windhoek, Namibia, November 4, 2009

Governance Statistics:Working with stakeholders

through NSOs

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Outline of Presentation Introduction – key role of NSOs (UBOS)

Major Sources of Governance Statistics

Stakeholder Involvement - Example

Other efforts to develop governance statistics

Figures on Governance Statistics in Uganda

Conclusion

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Introduction Government has the obligation to provide services

to its citizens and to steer economic growth and development through the provision of public services.

Governance is considered a very important factor in achieving good performance of government policies

The actors responsible for governance often find it difficult to measure .

Failure to measure governance means that we cannot estimate its effect on an economy’s performance

Governance Statistics in Uganda has been a challenge

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Role of NSOs - UBOS Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) was

established by an Act of Parliament in 1998.

Core mission is to collect, analyze and disseminate official Government Statistics

UBOS provides information to inform Policy decisions of Gov’t but is not responsible for implementing those decisions

UBOS coordinates stakeholders in the National Statistical System (NSS)

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Sources of Governance Statistics

In Uganda, the first attempt to scientifically measure governance was through the National Service Delivery Surveys (2001, 2004, 2008)

The 2004 and 2008 Surveys were conducted by UBOS in collaboration with key stakeholders

Institutions covered included Local councils, Central and Administrative Police, Prisons, Courts, Land Tribunals, Public Prosecution offices, etc

Other key sectors of the economy covered included Agriculture, Health, Education, Energy, Road Infrastructure, Water and Sanitation

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Sources of Governance Statistics

Each of these sectors has governance issues embedded - service delivery, bribery in order to get a service, delayed services, quality of services delivered, etc.

The NSDS mainly collected information from a sample of around 10,000 households but also had a module for service providers

Other surveys – National Integrity Surveys (NIS) 1998, 2003, 2008 conducted by Office of the Inspectorate of Government (IG)

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Stakeholder Involvement in the National Service Delivery Surveys

The National Statistics Office (UBOS) worked as an implementer of the survey and a coordinator for the key stakeholders

A multi-sector technical committee chaired by UBOS was set up to develop the survey instruments Conduct stakeholder consultations Supervise data collection Participate in report writing Provide feedback from their respective institutions

o Technical Committee – Ministries of Internal Affairs, Justice, Water, Education, Health, Agriculture, Energy, Inspectorate of Government, UBOS, among others.

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Other attempts to develop governance statistics - specific example

Under the Plan for National Statistical Development that covers 16 MDAs, the Uganda Police Force has developed its Sector Strategic Plan for Statistics (SSPS)

Development of the SSPS involved consultations with all departments of Police including Traffic, Criminal Investigation, Operations, etc and also their stakeholders

UBOS is working closely with the Police Force to develop its statistics which form part of governance statistics

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Governance Issues covered under the National Service Delivery Surveys -

Examples Delivery of government services by service

providers – percentage of households ever visited by an agricultural extension worker 12 months prior to the survey

Corruption and Bribery – Percentage of households that have ever paid a bribe in order to receive a service in any of the covered sectors

Management of government services – Attitude of staff in education, health etc towards clients

Accessibility of services – % of Sub-counties that access road equipment located at the district

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Statistics from the National Service Delivery Surveys

33% of the households paid a bribe to the Central gov’t police in order to get a service.

26% of the households paid a bribe to the local administration police in order to get a service

Less than 3% of households reported having paid a bribe to customary courts for a service.

Only 13% of households engaged in

agriculture had been visited by an agricultural extension worker in the 12 months preceding the survey.

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Statistics from the National Service Delivery Survey s

27% of the respondents knew how to report extortions and embezzlement of public funds

Only 1% of those who knew how to report had ever reported

51% of households are never involved in decision-making processes concerning dev’t projects in their villages. Of those involved less than 30% participate in identifying projects, 21% in prioritizing while a mere 11% are involved in monitoring the projects

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Statistics from the National Integrity Survey

Bribery identified as the most prevalent form of corruption – mainly attributed to greed and desire to accumulate wealth in the quickest possible time

Middle-age crisis has shifted from 40-45 yrs to 25-30 yrs due to peer pressure/comparison (has resulted into people “living beyond their means”), hence fuelling corruption

Corruption has evolved as an acceptable way of life. Those who quickly amass wealth are glorified while those who uphold principles of integrity are ridiculed!

New form of “syndicate corruption” characterized by “Management by Crisis”

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Statistics from the National Integrity Survey

Police reported as most corrupt public institution by 88% of respondents. (Others: Judiciary (79%, Uganda Revenue Authority 77%, District Service Commissions 73%).

Among the highly rated institutions were NGOs (84%), Local Council 1 (81%) and National Water &Sewerage Co. (69%)

Strong recommendation for Gov’t to evolve “radical strategies” against corruption e.g. forceful recovery of stolen funds by selling the assets of the corrupt

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Conclusion Service Delivery is a Governance issue

National Statistical Offices though not policy implementers, play a major role in providing information that guide key policies of Service Delivery

UBOS has developed a strategy for making statistics understood and appreciated – popular versions of key publications

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THANK YOU

www.ubos.org