• Transparency

Access to Information and Transparency

This working paper examines the evidence behind the story that corruption in Uganda was terminated simply by publishing the amount of monthly grants to schools. It finds that while information did indeed play a critical role, it was no panacea for corruption. While a dramatic drop in the percentage of funds being diverted did occur, the paper makes clear that there were other policies and reforms that helped to explain the reported decline in corruption to Ugandan education in the 1990s, including:

• the restructuring of the grant from a block grant to a conditional grant had some effect on the application of funds for their specified purpose
• the introduction of universal primary education, with the contingent removal of parental fees, made the capitation grant a more important part of the funding mix
• the UPE campaign also brought education funding to the public’s attention.

Typical accounts of the Uganda story overlook this context. The paper also shows that while the proportion of funds diverted did decline spectacularly, the real value of funds actually diverted fell by a modest 12 per cent over six years. The paper concludes that the efficacy of the information campaign has declined over time.

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