In this article on consultants and consultancy in Uganda, we explore how consultancy has been diluted to the extent that it is almost becoming a business of producing reports, organising workshops and consuming project budgets without necessarily delivering the meaningful value required.
Actually, consultancy used to be a noble profession grounded in expertise, experience, integrity and the ability to provide solutions to complex institutional and development challenges. However, as Raudla, Kuusela and Ylönen argued in their 2026 publication, despite the increasing power and influence attributed to consultants, scholars have repeatedly raised concerns about consultants and consultancies. As scholars from the Department for Critical Thinking and Alternative Analysis at the Karamoja Anti-Corruption Coalition, we also wish to add our voice to those of other scholars who argue that consultancy in Uganda has been diluted.
For example, consultants are expected to offer policy advice, evaluate programmes, fulfil specific management functions such as planning, assess relevant stakeholders and advise governments on excelling in global performance metrics. However, in Uganda, the growing commercialisation of consultancy services raises questions about whether the profession is gradually losing its original purpose. As a matter of fact, some consultants hired by organisations are not fit for the assignments they undertake. They lack the necessary competence, with some displaying what could be described as secondary illiteracy in the very areas in which they claim expertise.
A 2014 study by Wight, Ahikire and Kwesiga shows that international agencies use consultancies to inform development interventions. However, if one were to critically examine the relationship between consultancies and actual development outcomes, the findings might present a different picture.
As a team concerned with Alternative Analysis, we therefore pose some questions: What could be the problem? What went wrong? Could there be a hidden issue contributing to the dilution of consultancy in Uganda that needs to be addressed?
In their publication, Consultancy Research as a Barrier to Strengthening Social Science Research Capacity in Uganda, Wight, Ahikire and Kwesiga (2014) revealed that consultancies are sometimes awarded through favouritism rather than expertise and that the process is not always meritocratic. They further observed that consultances are sometimes expected to make unofficial payments, commonly called bribes, to certain individuals or officials to get things done (Wight Daniel, Josephine Ahikire, and Joy C. Kwesiga, 2014).
To consultants and consultancy firms in Uganda, our appeal is that there is a need to reclaim and protect the dignity of this noble profession.
Ayub Mukisa, PhD, writes from the Department for Critical Thinking and Alternative Analysis at the Karamoja Anti-Corruption Coalition (KACC).
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