By Reta Raymond
Associate Special Features Editor

I quickly learned that bribes get things done in Uganda.  Usually poorly done, but things are accomplished nonetheless.  One friend told me that the roads are in such disrepair because once everyone has had their piece of the pie, there is very little money to buy the materials and perform the actual construction.

While corruption is wrong, how tightly would an American hold to the corruption is wrong position if they were immersed in Uganda’s living conditions?  Often in Uganda, international families seeking to adopt Ugandan children sit on court dockets for unexplained amounts of time.  When these international families’ attorneys ask the adoptees for a sum for clerks’ fees, do the adoptees ensure that the fees are legitimate, or are they simply pleased that they have suddenly received a court date?

In my case, my suitcase was too full at the airline checkout counter leaving Uganda.  I had gotten very little sleep the night before, and offloading some of my belongings into a box to be shipped out and then re-entering the line was the last thing I wanted to do.  I pleaded with the clerk, “Can I just pay you for the extra kilo?” She politely said, “Of course I want to help you.  How much do you have?”  I told her I only had twenty thousand shillings left, about ten bucks.  “It would be better if you had fifty thousand,” she responded.  The clerk then smiled and told me to put the money inside my ticket envelope.  I realized she was extending an invitation to bribe her.  What should I have done?  Even if I was caught trying to bribe her, I probably wouldn’t be arrested.  But it felt wrong to perpetuate this problem, to accept that this was a way of doing business.  I curtly told her “no, thanks” and headed for the re-packing area.

The Wall Street Journal and the Heritage Foundation’s 2012 Index of Economic Freedom ranked Uganda number 78 out of 179 countries.[1]  The Index stated that, “Widespread corruption undermines the government’s capacity to provide basic public services efficiently.”[2]  Uganda attempts to address corruption through their Anti-Corruption Division of its High Court, which is their court of general jurisdiction.  The Anti Corruption Coalition of Uganda (“ACCU”) also works to combat corruption through research, advocacy, and by facilitating the flow of information to civil society through its members to address the issue and solutions.

For example, in its recent newsletter, the ACCU questioned whether school fees are excessive and, in fact, corrupt.  The ACCU looked at a sample list of required items for a student to contribute each term, which “include[d] physical items like . . . a ream of papers, a big packet of washing soap, five bars of soap, five rolls of toilet paper, five tablets of bathing soap, floor polish, mineral water, a broom,  a bag of cement, etc.”[3]  The ACCU then called on readers who may be “parents and teachers [to] reflect on the life they went through while at school and demand an explanation and accountability on how the items they buy for their children are used.”[4]  The ACCU’s article illustrates how pervasive corruption appears to be in Uganda, as even children may carry excessive cleaning supplies as a bribe for their headmaster on the first day of school.

Given the extent of the corrupt practices in Uganda, ten dollars to an airline clerk seems fairly nominal, but what is problematic is how casually the offer was extended.  Without a missing a beat, the clerk didn’t hesitate to invite me to bribe her.  We were really speaking two different languages.  I meant, “May I pay the airline extra?”  However, she heard, “Can I pay you personally?”  Next time I’ll be more specific.  Also, while I was really just paying for a convenience, Ugandans are faced with paying extra for bribes on necessary goods or services, such as school fees.  This fact makes the gap between the rich and poor wider, and unfairly targets the poor, keeping them in a state of perpetual poverty.  We can only hope that the work of the Anti-Corruption Court and the ACCU is able to combat corruption to help Ugandans get out of this cycle of poverty.