Trust in Museveni drops, rises in opposition - survey

http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/-/688334/1387930/-/aw2ccdz/-/index.html

SOURCE: THE DAILY MONITOR, 17 APRIL 2012

IN SUMMARY

New report also shows rise in faith in army but dip in backing for police.

KAMPALA

Public trust in the institution of the President and the police has fallen only a year after the 2011 general election while that in Parliament, the Opposition and the army has risen over the same period.

The revelation is detailed in findings of the latest Afrobarometer survey conducted in February gauging public trust in institutions expected for release today.

Although essentially part of the same survey, the pollsters are releasing the data in four parts after the first part last month showed economic issues have become priorities to most Ugandans, fuelling the view among 74 per cent of respondents that the country is headed in the wrong direction.

The data on public institutions, whose details are expected to be released in Kampala today, show that trust in President Museveni has dropped from 69 per cent last January to 59 per cent in February 2012.

Wilsken Agencies Ltd and the Centre for Democratic Governance (CDG) in Uganda partnered with Afrobarometer, which describes itself as an independent, nonpartisan research project, to conduct the Round 5 Survey between December 2011 and February 2012.

The survey is conducted in at least 20 African countries and measures public attitudes toward democracy, governance, the economy, markets and leadership.

The findings show that Ugandans are exhibiting more faith in Parliament than they did last year, with public trust shooting from 57 per cent in January last year to 67 per cent in January 2012.

The survey was done after robust debate in the 9th Parliament over allegations of corruption in the oil sector and in government which led to the resignation of three ministers.

The bi-partisan nature of that debate has seen the ruling NRM party grow its level of trust from 64 to 65 per cent between 2011 and 2012 but the biggest beneficiary is the opposition whose trust rating rose from 37 per cent to 48 per cent over the same period. 
The survey also shows that Ugandans have gained more faith in the army, with public trust shooting from 56 per cent last year to 65 per cent this year, while trust in the police has fallen marginally from 51 per cent to 50 per cent.

Seen over a 10-year period, public trust in the President is around where it was in 2002 (60 per cent) down from a high of 76 per cent in 2005 but higher than a low of 56 per cent in 2008. Public approval ratings of the performance of the Presidency have steadily declined from all-time high of 83 per cent in 2010 to 58 per cent. By comparison, public trust in the opposition has tripled over the last decade, from 16 per cent in 2002 to 48 per cent.

The survey results come amidst growing pressure, within and outside the NRM party, on Mr Museveni to name his departure date or leave in 2016 and the data will show that while the President remains popular, trust in his leadership and confidence in his ability to solve the country’s top issues is rapidly slipping away.

According to the findings, while concern over economic issues demonstrated a sharp increase over the past few years, perception of government responsiveness to address these and other issues reflects a slow but steady decline over 10 years.

Ugandans today are more concerned about bread and butter economic issues than social issues like education and health care, the research reveals.

The research also showed that Ugandans believe the police is the most corrupt institution in the country (64 per cent), followed by tax officials (44 per cent) and government officials (40 per cent).