Kampala:  President Museveni has performed poorly in his current term of office compared to previous terms, with many Ugandans critical of his government's failure to fight corruption, a new poll commissioned by Daily Monitor reveals.  Conducted by Steadman Group, a respected research firm, the poll shows that 36 per cent of Ugandans rate President Museveni's current term in office as "worse than earlier terms".

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Some 32 per cent think the President, who came to power in 1986 after a five-year war and changed the constitution to allow him run for his third election in 2006, has performed better than before while 27 per cent see no change.  The poll was conducted in May this year, two years into President Museveni's current five-year term. Respondents across the country were asked for their opinions about how well the President had done in fulfilling pledges he made during the campaigns.

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More than half (56 per cent) of the respondents aligned to President Museveni's ruling National Re sistance Movement party felt that the President performance in the current term is better than that of the previous terms while 25 per cent saw no change. However, 16 per cent of respondents who belong to NRM said Mr Museveni's performance was worse than in previous terms - and it is this unsatisfied category that the opposition will hope to attract ahead of the 2011 election.

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An almost equal 56 per cent from the opposition Democratic Party and the Forum for Democratic Change said President Museveni's current term is worse than previous terms. About 25 per cent from the two opposition parties and Uganda Peoples' Congress saw no change while about 14 per cent said it was better. It is this category that the NRM will try to woo.  Of concern to NRM are the 46 per cent of independent respondents who said this term was worse than previous ones, compared to 18 per cent who said it was better.

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Respondents were asked to give their justification for ranking Mr Museveni's performance in his current terms compared to previous terms. They were asked to rank whether he had delivered on his campaign promises "to a great extent", to a "small extent" or "not at all".

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More than half of all respondents, 54 per cent, said he had done nothing to fulfil his campaign pledge to fight corruption while 38 per cent said he had only achieved it to a small extent. The finding will come as a stern indictment of President Museveni's effort to fight corruption within his government and in the rest of the country.  Despite the establishment of several legal and regulatory frameworks to tackle corruption, including the Inspectorate of Government, the Criminal Investigations Directorate, the Directorate of Public Prosecutions and the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority, there is often no political will to arrest and prosecute suspects.

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According to 2005 World Bank estimates, Uganda loses about $300million through corruption and procurement malpractices every year, a factor that inspired the government's decision to set up an anti-corruption court early this year.  Government officials have previously pointed to the on-going trial of three former health ministers on corruption charges as evidence of political will.

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However last week's absolution of Security Minister Amama Mbabazi and Finance Minister Ezra Suruma of allegations of influence-peddling and conflict-of-interest in the NSSF-Temangalo matter on the orders of President Museveni to the NRM Parliamentary Caucus, despite a committee of parliament finding the duo culpable, will ignite questions of selective application of political will in the fight against corruption.

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President Museveni scored highest on education where about four in 10 Ugandans feel he has fulfilled his pledges, which included the expansion of the free universal primary education scheme that started in 1998, to secondary schools.  However, some 53 per cent said the President had fulfilled the pledge to a small extent, probably capturing questions about the quality of education provided for under the two schemes in the absence of inadequate facilities and teaching resources, especially in rural areas.

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The President also scored highly on health, where 35 per cent said he was fulfilling his pledges to a great extent, and security where three out of 10 Ugandans feel that Museveni has delivered on his promise.

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The President's popularity ratings in this area have continued to receive a boost from the relative peace and stability in northern Uganda following peace talks with the LRA rebels.  Some 29 per cent said Mr Museveni had achieved his promise to end the war but half of all respondents said the promise had been achieved to "a small extent", capturing the uncertainty of the peace talks whose final agreement rebel leader Joseph Kony has refused to sign until the International Criminal Court lifts the warrants of arrest it issued against him and his top lieutenants.

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On most accounts, however, the President's performance rating is either lukewarm or poor. Four out of 10 respondents said Mr Museveni has not fulfilled his pledges on creating employment, while 53 per cent said he had only achieved it to a small extent.

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Despite the massive investments in transport and energy infrastructure, including a new hydropower dam at Jinja, some 27 per cent of respondents said Mr Museveni had not fulfilled his pledges on developing the country's infrastructure while 57 per cent said he had only achieved it to a small extent.

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Government allocated a record Shs1.1 trillion to the roads sector in the 2008/9 budget that was read out in June after the survey was conducted and it is possible that the President's performance ranking would be higher if the same question was posed to the same respondents today.

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Some 28 per cent of respondents said Mr Museveni had failed to deliver on his pledge to foster economic growth while 54 per cent said he had only delivered to a small extent.  Criticism of the President's performance on this score was highest in northern Uganda where two decades of war displaced millions of Ugandans and left most of them in abject poverty.

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Three out of 10 Ugandans live below the poverty line - measured as less than a dollar a day - but the figure is higher in northern Uganda.

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How the poll was conducted:  The results are based on structured face-to-face interviews with 1,996 randomly-sampled adults, aged 18 and older, and conducted in May 2008; the poll was conducted by Steadman Group, a Nairobi-based research firm that carries out extensive and widely-respected surveys in the region. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 2 percent;  Interviews were conducted at a household level from districts nationwide. 55 per cent of the respondents were male while 45 per cent were female. Urban respondents were 24 per cent while 76 per cent were from rural areas.

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Education
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No schooling =6%; Primary not completed =14%; Primary completed= 14%; Secondary not completed =26%; Secondary completed =16%; Tertiary college =15%; University and post university= 8%
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Religion

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Protestant =39%; Roman Catholic =38%; Muslim =11%; Other =10%
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Region

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Central =27%; East =27%; North =21%; West =26%

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Age Group

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18-24 =26%; 25-34 =39%; 35-44 = 18%; 45+ =15%; Refused to answer =2%