Ankole takes most govt jobs

An in-depth look at government’s latest report on national jobs has revealed findings which seem to indicate that Ugandans hailing from President Museveni’s home area of Ankole enjoy greater access to public employment opportunities.

The Equal Opportunities Commission says in its ‘Annual State of Equality Opportunities in Uganda FY 2022/23’ report that the findings of its survey revealed that Ankole sub-region in western Uganda benefitted more than other parts of the country from government jobs. 

The report says that with 25 percent of the country’s working population, western region was found to account for 36 percent of public sector jobs. “Further analysis revealed that out of the 36 percent employment opportunities accessed in western region, Ankole sub-region had the highest proportion of public service employees at 17 percent followed by Kigezi at 10 percent,” the report released on Tuesday revealed.

 In comparison, central region with Uganda’s largest proportion of working population, which stands at 31 percent, had only 24 percent in public sector employment. 

Eastern region which accounts for 24 percent of the country’s working population has 19 percent of its people employed in government agencies. The north takes 20 percent of the jobs close to its share of 19 percent of the working population.

The EOC findings are attributed to its evaluation of 30 major public entities based on tribe, sex, age and religion of their employees. The report does not explain the reasons for the regional inequalities in accessing public sector employment opportunities.

 The report highlights some of the public institutions and the regional origin of their employees.

At the National Water and Sewage Co-operation (NWSC), which is among the largest employers with 4,578 workers, Ankole holds 942 of the jobs, representing 21 percent of all the employees, and with three at top management level. It is closely followed by Buganda with 902 employees, representing 20 percent, while Kigezi places third with 453.

 Bukedi Sub-region in eastern Uganda accounts for 334 NWSC staff; Busoga sub-region in mid-eastern Uganda holds 308; Acholi Sub-region up north has 298; Tooro Sub-region in the far-west 282; Teso Sub-region in mid-eastern Uganda 258 and Lango Sub-region also in the north 245. In the category of those with more than 100 staff at NWSC, Bugisu in the east leads the lot with 194, followed by West Nile at 161, and Bunyoro with 125. 

Trailing at NWSC in the far-east are Sebei sub-region with 53 and Karamoja with just 23.

The report says that while “government has policies to promote equal access and inclusion, it is evident from the analysis that the NWSC criteria of recruitment and access to employment are associated with discrimination and marginalisation, which has generated socio-economic inequalities both at individual and regional levels”.

Out of Uganda Revenue Authority’s (URA) 3,235 workers, Buganda as a sub-region of central Uganda took the dominant position at 1,003 staff with nine in top level positions, followed by Ankole with 571 and also nine at top management level. Kigezi once again comes third with 282 staff, two of whom are in top management. 

Busoga sub-region accounts for 240 of URA’s workers, including two in top management, while Tooro has 176.  Mid-western Uganda’s Bunyoro 137 with two at top management level and Acholi with 135 of whom one is a top manager. Teso has 133, West Nile 112, Lango 97, Sebei 49 and Karamoja 31.

The report says Ankole and Central sub-regions have the most people working as commissioners and assistant commissioners, which are key in decision-making processes at the tax collecting agency. Bugisu, Tooro, Karamoja, and West Nile sub-regions do not have a single person occupying a top level office at URA.  

NMS

At the Entebbe-based National Medical Stores (NMS), from a total of 380 staff, Ankole accounts for 22 percent of all employees with 72, a figure it again shares with Buganda that also has 72. Ankole has three people in top management at NMS, while Buganda only has one. 

Kigezi has three employees in NMS representing 10 percent; Tooro and Busoga have 25 employees each, while Bunyoro has 24. Teso 23, Acholi 17, Bukedi 13, West Nile and Kampala each have 12, while Sebei and Karamoja have five and three NMS workers, respectively. 

The EOC report points out that the commission found an obvious under-representation of Buganda, Busoga and Karamoja sub-regions at NMS when comparing proportion of their contribution in respect to size working-age population in the respective regions. 

Within the Local Government Finance Commission (LGFC), majority of the positions went to Buganda with 11 people accounting for 30 percent, followed by Lango with six employees. Coming third was Busoga at five then Kigezi with four. Ankole and Bukedi each have three, while Teso and Tooro tie at two each, while Bunyoro. Other areas of the country are not represented at LGFC.

“It is also worth noting that sub-regions like Karamoja, Bugisu, West Nile and Sebei have not been successful in accessing employment opportunities within LGFC,” the report says. 

Uneb

At Uganda National Examination Board which employs 258 staff, Buganda accounts for 91 of all the staff representing 36 percent of all those employed. It is followed by Busoga with 24 staff and Acholi with 18.  Bukedi 17, Ankole and Kigezi  have 16 each, Kampala and Teso 12 each,   West Nile 11, Lango 10, Bunyoro 9, Tooro 3, and Karamoja 2.

At the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) with 234 employees, Buganda comes top with 55 employees representing 23 percent, followed by Ankole with 45 representing 19 percent. Not far behind, Kigezi has 26 workers representing 11 percent of total URSB staff pool. Teso has 20 people at URSB, Busoga 19, Lango 15 employees, Tooro 11, Bunyoro and West Nile nine each, while Acholi, Kampala and Bugisu each have five people.

Elsewhere at the Capital Markets Authority, Buganda accounts for 15 staff representing 48 percent, followed by Bukedi with five, Tooro four, while Ankole, Kigezi and Lango each have two. Busoga has one. 

The Uganda Land Commission employs 41 staff, out of whom Buganda takes seven jobs representing 20 percent, followed by Bukedi and Busoga which both have six. Acholi, Bugisu and Kigezi each have three, while Lango, Teso, Tooro and West Nile have one each.

Uganda Management Institute (UMI) employs 198 staff, with 49 coming from Buganda representing 30 percent, followed by Kampala with 26 staff. Both Ankole and Bukedi account for 15 staff each.

Kigezi has 12, while West Nile, Busoga, and Teso sub-regions each have 10 workers. Acholi and Tooro each have eight, Bunyoro six and Karamoja two.

From Kyambogo where the National Council for Higher Education sits, 17 of its 56 employees hail from Buganda representing 30 percent, followed by Busoga with eight, while seven come from Ankole. Bukedi six; Bunyoro, Teso and Kigezi each have three, while West Nile has two. Acholi, Bugisu, Lango and Karamoja have one each.

The National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC) employs 120 Ugandans of whom 39 are from Buganda, followed by 18 from Ankole, 13, from Busoga and 12 from Kigezi. Tooro has eight, West Nile seven, while Bugisu and Bukedi have six each. There are five people from Bunyoro in NCDC, two each from Teso and Lango, while both Karamoja and Acholi tally one each.

Uganda Road Fund, which has 31 employees, has 14 staff from Buganda, six from Lango, and two each from Ankole, Kigezi and Tooro and one each from Acholi, Teso, Bunyoro, Bukedi and Busoga.

At the Financial Intelligence Authority with 42 employees Buganda commands the lead with 14 staff, followed by Bukedi and Kigezi with five each, while Ankole has four. Busoga and Teso have three each; Tooro and Bunyoro tally at two, while Acholi, Bugisu, Lango and West Nile trail with one each.

Inside the Petroleum Authority of Uganda (PAU), the report says it is evident that while some regions were overrepresented, others were underrepresented.  

Buganda has 35 PAU employees representing 25 percent, followed by Ankole with 23 staff, Tooro with 12, while Kigezi and Bunyoro have 11 each and Acholi has 10 people employed there. Both Teso and Busoga have eight each; Bugisu, Kampala, West Nile have three apiece, Lango and Bukedi tie with two and Sebei just one.

Uganda Coffee Development Authority has 165 employees, with Buganda again topping the list with 38, followed by Kigezi with 34, while Ankole has 31 employees. Busoga has 12, Tooro and Bugisu each have 10, Lango has nine, West Nile five; Acholi and Bunyoro four each, while Kampala and Sebei tie at two each.

National Population Council

At the National Population Council, there are 56 employees.  Buganda takes the lion’s share with 16 employees, followed by Kigezi with 11 and Ankole with six. Tooro five, West Nile four; Bunyoro, Busoga and Teso three each, Lango two, while Sebei, Bugisu and Bukedi each have a single slot.

Inside the Uganda Microfinance Regulatory Authority Buganda provides 10 staff, followed by Ankole with seven; Kigezi and Teso five each, Busoga three; Bugisu and Bunyoro two each, while Tooro has a solitary slot.

Uganda Bureau of Statistics has 382 staff, with Ankole, Busoga, and Teso taking the lion’s share while Lango is the least represented followed by Tooro.  

At the Uganda National Roads Authority (Unra), out of 1,416 employees, 286 come from Buganda, 189 from Ankole, 171 from Kigezi and 119 from Busoga. At the tail end are Bugisu with 31, Karamoja with eight and Sebei with six.

The analysis revealed that Ankole had the highest number of employees occupying the top positions at Unra, standing at 30 percent, followed by Kampala, Teso and Tooro sub-regions. 

Inside the Uganda Aids Commission (UAC) there are 58 workers. Buganda has 13, Bunyoro 11, Kigezi seven, Ankole and Bugisu tie with six each. Bukedi and Lango tie at three each, while Acholi and Teso have two apiece and West Nile trails with one.

The report says while Bugisu was not among the sub-regions with the highest representation in employment at UAC, it had the most representation at top management level, with 28 percent of the people from the region occupying the top jobs.

At the Uganda Retirement Benefits Regulatory Authority (URBRA), out of 49 employees, Buganda has 27, representing 55 percent, followed by Bunyoro with four; Ankole Tooro and Busoga with three each,  Bugisu and Acholi two apiece.

Buganda has 75 percent of the top management positions at URBRA followed by Bunyoro and Karamoja at 12.5 percent each.

Uganda Industrial Research Institute has Kigezi being the most represented followed by Ankole and Buganda.  On the other hand, Karamoja and Sebei sub-regions, followed by Acholi, Tooro, and Bunyoro were the least represented.

EC

The Electoral Commission has 839 staff, with Buganda, Ankole and Kigezi having the highest representation at 14, 13 and 10 percent respectively, while Sebei, Karamoja and Acholi registered the least share of employment at the EC.

 Regarding the sub-regional share of top management positions at the polls body, Ankole and Buganda South had the highest percentages of 22 percent and 28 percent, respectively.

The Public Procurement and Disposal Authority employs 137 Ugandans. Buganda contributes almost one third of the staff at 31 percent, followed by Kigezi 15 percent and Ankole percent.  Sebei and Acholi sub-regions were the most marginalised at the authority.  

At Makerere University Business School (MUBS), Buganda provides the most employee, followed by Busoga and Ankole.  On the other hand, Sebei and Karamoja sub-regions do not have any person employed at MUBS, while only one percent of the employees are from Lango. Other marginalised sub-regions are Bunyoro, Acholi, and Tooro, among others.  

The National Agricultural Advisory Services (Naads) employs 49, out of whom Buganda sub-region leads with 41 percent, followed by Ankole and Busoga which tie at 14 percent.  Bugisu and Sebei sub-regions have the least number of employees at Naads with two percent each. Other areas, including Acholi, West Nile, and Karamoja have no representation at Naaads. 

At Law Development Centre (LDC), which is the only institution authorised to offer the Bar Course for lawyers in Uganda, there are 111 employees, of which almost one-quarter of the employees (24 percent) are from Buganda region. This is followed by Ankole 15 percent, and West Nile 13 percent.  The least represented regions are Bunyoro (two percent) and Acholi (three percent).  The other regions completely have no employment share at LDC.  In top management at LDC, Buganda and Ankole are the most represented with 33 percent each.

 The report findings highlight longstanding concerns about regional balance and equity in distribution of opportunities.

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