By Vision Reporter

UGANDANS want candidates for next year’s elections to pay most attention to health, transport, education, children and employment during their term of office.

A survey shows that unlike many politicians who focus on political freedoms and human rights, most Ugandans instead care about social service delivery.

In a countrywide opinion poll conducted by New Vision, Ugandans said social services availablity is their most pressing problem, which the leaders must address. Others at the top of the list are personal security, agriculture, poverty alleviation, business as well as water and sanitation.

Health, the highest ranked problem, was cited by 97.4% of the respondents. The number one health problem was shortage of drugs in health facilities.

They said health centres tell them to buy medicines from drug shops, some of which sell fake medicines.

“Last year my two-year-old baby was diagnosed with malaria at the parish health centre. There was only Panadol, which he was given and I was told to buy the malaria medicine from a shop. Despite buying the medicine, the baby died three days later,” said a mother at Otuke in the northern district of Lira.

Rampant malaria, HIV and tuberculosis also featured as did scarcity of health centres and sanitation-related diseases. Others were corruption and rude health workers.

This is the biggest survey conducted by a media organisation in Uganda. A total of 10,097 Ugandans of voting age, randomly selected in 67 counties, were asked to say their most pressing problems. It was conducted from June 21 to July 23 by New Vision’s in-house researchers.

Respondents were asked three questions. The first was about issues they wanted politicians to address during the campaigns. The other two were the political party and presidential candidate they thought would competently address the issues in the campaign and tackle them if elected.

Second to health was road networks and availability of transport, which was mentioned by 96.6% of the respondents. The most pressing need here was the escalating transport fares, followed by poor roads and high fuel costs. A respondent at Bisheshe in the western district of Ibanda said transport from his home to town had risen from sh1,000 to sh2,000 in two months. “This is too high for me as I depend on farming. These days we walk whenever we want to go to town,” he said. Other transport problems were overloading in taxis, limited public transport, speeding, narrow roads, accidents, reckless bodaboda riders and corruption.

Closely following health and transport was education, cited by 95.5% of the respondents. The top problem in this category was high tuition fees. Even beneficiaries of free education are charged some money in many schools. “I heard on radio here, Museveni saying the UPE (universal primary education) schools should not charge money. But my daughter has just been sent home for sh10,000 for the development fund. What is this?” said a father at Okoro in Zombo.

Other respondents don’t trust the quality of free education, yet private schools are expensive. The other problems in the education category were high school drop-out rates and the many requirements schools demand. Scarcity of teachers, long distance to school and pregnancy of girls also featured.

The fourth problem, after roads, transport and security, was children’s affairs. It was cited by 95.1% of the respondents. Abuse of children’s rights, school dropout, lack of education and child sacrifice were top.

“These days I don’t know where to leave my baby. At home, maids are no longer trusted. There is a big risk of child theft. At day-care centres, they contract infections. I am considering quitting my job for the safety of my kids,” said a mother in Mukono.

Other child-related issues cited were diseases, sexual abuse, lack of parental guidance, physical harassment, unfair punishment, street children and discrimination.

Closely following children’s issues was unemployment at 94.4%. Many respondents thought the few available jobs depend on ‘technical know-who’. “My son finished his studies in 2005 but to-date he has not got a job. We work in this banana plantation. I wonder why he went to school,” said a father in Kitojo, Rukungiri.

Personal security was the next priority concern, cited by 93.6% of respondents. Respondents were particularly concerned about thefts, murders, personal threats, love conflicts, witchcraft and rape.

“Thieves are too many these days. Previously we would leave items like slippers outside the house. These days they can be stolen and after that they attack you in the house,” said a mother in Apopong in Pallisa.

Issues mentioned by more than 90% of the respondents were agriculture, food security, poverty alleviation, business, water and sanitation, environment and land.

Those mentioned by 80-90% of respondents were media issues, domestic violence, sports and energy. Traditional leaders and national security were cited by below 70% of respondents.

Within the 19 broad issues, the survey revealed more than 200 specific issues that Ugandans want politicians to tackle. Of the specific issues, the number one concern was thefts. The issue was highest in western, followed by eastern, northern and central. Some 76.7% respondents feared for their personal security.

The other specific issues included tree cutting, wife beating, land grabbing and illiteracy. Concern about wife beating was about the same in all regions, but lower in the central.

Generally, issues of concern in central Uganda are different from those of the other regions. For instance, while in the other regions the most pressing issue was health, in central Uganda it was unemployment.

Personal security, which ranked fourth in central, was not among the top eight in other regions.

Surprisingly, traditional leaders ranked among the bottom three in all regions including central. Out of 19 issues, it ranked 17th in central, 18th in eastern and 19th in western and northern Uganda. Despite this, in all regions, concerns about traditional leaders were cited by over 60% of respondents.

In the poll, corruption came up indirectly as a specific issue under different sectors such as health, education, national security and business, which suggested indifference to the problem. Even as a specific issue, corruption was not a big priority.

For instance, only 29% cited it in the health sector, compared to 25.6% who did so in transport and only 21.8% in national security issues.

The poll is the first in a series of three to be held in the run-up to 2011 elections.

How survey was done

Researcher Stephen Mugarura said the number of respondents was established using the Fisherman’s sampling methodology, which ensures that the sample is representative of the voting population.

The 67 counties were chosen from the 77 districts that existed at the time of the survey. The number of districts has grown to 112. The counties were selected randomly from the regions under which they were listed.

Not more than two counties were picked from the same district. Within a county, four villages were randomly selected – the rural and the urban equally represented.

In each village, interviewers began at the LC1 office which acted as a sampling point. A pencil perpendicularly standing on its nib was dropped and the interviewers headed in the direction it pointed. Using an interval of every five households, they interviewed people aged 18 and above. Overall, 55% were male and 45% female. Rural-based respondents were 56% and 44% were urban.

The Vision Group research department has long experience in carrying out market research and opinion polling.