Uganda urged to adopt Tanzania’s law to combat sex-for-jobs corruption

By Faith Barbara N Ruhinda at 1411 EAT on Friday 6 November 2026

Uganda has been urged to enact specific legislation criminalising demands for sexual favours by people in positions of authority in exchange for jobs, promotions, examination marks or preferential treatment, following Tanzania’s example, which introduced a law addressing the practice in 2007.

A December 2021 study commissioned by the Inspectorate of Government (IGG) on the cost and extent of corruption in Uganda’s education sector found that at least one in 10 respondents had heard of cases in which teachers or school officials offered children good grades or examination passes in exchange for sexual favours.

Conducted by the Governance Transparency Institute, the research was based on a nationally representative household survey involving 1,600 respondents.

It found that 10 per cent of respondents had, at least once in the preceding five years, heard of a teacher or school official proposing sexual favours to a child in exchange for educational benefits.

The findings highlight how individuals entrusted with authority can exploit their positions to sexually exploit people seeking services, opportunities or favourable treatment.

However, the problem extends beyond the education sector. Research in Uganda’s public health sector has documented cases of supervisors demanding sexual favours in exchange for favourable job evaluations, promotions and salary increases.

Female graduates have also publicly accused prospective employers of demanding sex as a condition for securing employment.

Despite years of reported complaints and evidence of the practice, Uganda has no specific criminal offence expressly addressing sexual corruption, commonly known as sextortion.

Lawyer and human rights activist Patricia Munabi says the absence of explicit provisions in existing legislation has made it difficult to effectively prosecute individuals who abuse their positions of authority to demand sexual favours.

Munabi argues that Uganda needs to amend its laws to expressly criminalise the practice and establish specific penalties for offenders.

She made the remarks during a presentation and experience-sharing session on sexual corruption, where participants examined approaches adopted by other countries to prevent and punish the vice.

-Observer

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