UMI to start anti-corruption course

By Moses Walubiri

Uganda Management Institute (UMI) – deemed Uganda’s premier center for management training, consultancy and research – is set to roll out a course in anti-graft management as a way of stemming the rising tide of corruption in the country.

The course is among those that the institute is designing as it seeks to remain relevant to the “challenges of the 21st Century,” according to its Director General, Dr. James Nkata.

“We receive misgivings from the public that UMI has veered off its original purpose of fostering capacity building among civil servants. But that is not true as evidenced by the kind of courses we offer, including the one on anti-corruption management that is under design,” Nkata said to prolonged laughter and clapping during UMI’s 11th graduation ceremony on Friday.

Another course that will be rolled out later this year is Hospital and Healthcare Management, which, according to Nkata, is meant for practicing and aspiring health managers.

UMI Chancellor, Florence Mugasha, whose term of office expires in June, reminisced on the highs and lows of her tenure, highlighting the opening of UMI branches in Mbale and Mbarara as the biggest achievements.

The institute awarded 1849 students with Ordinary Diplomas, Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters Degrees, the largest number to graduate in a single go in its 44 years history.

Mugasha challenged the graduands to make a “positive influence on society” with their newly acquired skills, saying UMI alumni are “never second best in any realm of human endeavor.”

According to Transparency International, a global civil society organization leading the fight against graft, Uganda loses more money through corruption annually than it receives in foreign aid and grants.

The latest East African Bribery Index conducted by Transparency International indicates that Uganda has the highest bribery index in the region at 40.7, compared to Tanzania (39.1), Kenya (29.5), and Rwanda at 2.5 per cent.

This means that to access most of the essential services in Uganda, one is more likely to fork out a bribe than in any other East African country.

Also the latest Perception Corruption Index carried out in 176 countries ranks Uganda as the 46th most corrupt country in the world.

This development comes at a time when the country is in the throes of numerous corruption scandals and all manner of abuse of office that have left state coffers bleeding white.

Set up in 1969 as the Institute of Public Administration with a mandate to provide in-service training to public servants, the institute had its mandate changed in 1992 to reflect its broader role in development management, getting renamed UMI in the process.