Makerere unveils new tool for screening public servants

Jan 18, 2012

Makerere University has developed a specialised tool that will be used by the Government to assess public officials before they are hired.

By Taddeo Bwambale

Makerere University has developed a specialised tool that will be used by the Government to assess public officials before they are hired.

The tool dubbed Uganda’s Standardized Ethics and Integrity Scale is designed to curb corruption and improve service delivery in the public and private sectors, through a set of indicators recruits will be subjected to.

The tool was developed by experts from the School of Psychology in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. It has a three-part scale, one of which screens candidates for corruption, nepotism, confidentiality, time management, abuse of office and conflict resolution.

Part of the tool measures the moral standards of individuals such as self-control, as well as one’s personal values. It takes a maximum of 30 minutes for individuals to respond to the 100 indicators in the scale.

The tool is expected to be operationalised by several government and private institutions within the next five months, according to the dean of the school of psychology, Prof Peter Baguma.

According to Baguma, the tool has been gradually tested on several personalities since 1999 to establish its effectiveness.
According to 2006 Global Integrity Report, Uganda loses more than half of its annual budget lost to corruption every year.

Makerere’s vice chancellor, Prof Venancius Baryamureeba yesterday revealed that the university had developed the tool was part of innovations to fight corruption.

“The College, through the school of computing is finalizing an anti-corruption tool that will be used to assess the identity of people with acceptable levels of ethics to take up positions of responsibility in public and private sectors,” he said.

He was speaking at the university’s 62nd graduation yesterday where a total of 2277 graduands from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences were awarded degrees and diplomas.

The university’s chancellor, Prof Mondo Kagonyera appealed to the graduands to be innovative  in order to earn a living in a competitive job market.

“Do not hesitate to venture into fields that are outside what you studied at university,” he said.  
 

 

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