1) Ethics and integrity are important for good governance as they help control people's behavior and build trust between the public and officials. Upholding ethical principles like accountability, impartiality, and transparency is crucial for public servants. 2) There are two main theories of ethics - deontology, which judges acts based on adherence to moral rules, and utilitarianism, which assesses acts based on their consequences. Ethical dilemmas can arise when choices have benefits but may be considered unethical. 3) Unethical practices by officials, if left unchecked, can lead to corruption, which undermines governance and development. Promoting ethics requires adequate remuneration for officials as well as punishment for corrupt

1. THEORIES AND PRINCIPLES
OF ETHICS AND PUBLIC
GOVERNANCE
MICHAEL GALUKANDE KIGANDA CHMC, PD
CONSULTANT PUBLIC POLICY AND GOVERNANCE
UGANDA MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE
EMAIL: MPGALUKANDE@UMI.AC.UG
TEL : +256774046206 / +256704926464
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2. INTRODUCTION
 In real life, and in the management of society and human kind
in general, if everyone made ethical decisions and if everyone had
high integrity, there would be no need for laws, rules, and
regulations.
 Even with the existence of stiff laws, rules and regulations in
the management of society, you still have people who flout the
rules and regulations and break governance laws and do wrong
things including committing crimes. This is the reason why it is
rare to find an empty prison.
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3. INTRODUCTION…
 Although the management of society is based on rules,
regulations and laws in order to control crime and bad conduct,
ethics, ethical behavior and integrity are of prime importance since
these are intrinsic to the person and are useful in controlling them
as they conduct themselves in relationship to others.
 Ethical behavior and having high integrity seems to play a
bigger part in controlling the behavior of people as they act in
relationship with others in society. Therefore, Ethics and Integrity
are important if you are to have good governance in society.
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4. WHAT IS ETHICS?
 Ethics is a branch of philosophy dealing with questions
of:
-- “What ought to be done?”
-- “What ought not to be done”
 Ethics is the study and philosophy of human conduct
with emphasis on the determination of right and wrong.
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5. WHAT IS ETHICS?...
 Ethics is a sub discipline of philosophy concerned with
issues of right and wrong in human conduct. It is concerned
with good and bad.
 Ethics refers to a system of moral principle – a sense of
right and wrong – and goodness and badness of actions.
Ethics is the objective basis upon which judgements are
rendered regarding right and wrong behavior. Ethics has to
do with fundamental questions such as:
-- What is fair?
-- What is just?
-- What is the right thing to do in this situation?
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6. WHAT IS ETHICS?...
 It involves an active process of applying values, ranging
from religious principles to customs and traditions.
Ethics provides moral guidelines and it is incumbent
upon all persons to apply these guidelines in making
decisions. Those persons in governance positions have
ethical responsibilities, but also higher ethical standards
are imposed on them for purposes of upholding public
interest.
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7. ETHICS AND INTEGRITY
When we are talking about Ethics and Integrity,
we are talking about standards of behavior and
conduct which are embedded in the values, culture
and traditions of an organization.
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8. ETHICS AND INTEGRITY…
 It is common knowledge that all organizations should
maintain a value system and a culture with strong ethics
and integrity as part of its governance framework such
that employees of those organizations operate with
integrity and operate with high standards of ethical
conduct to formulate sound policies and make sound
decisions to ensure community confidence and trust.
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9. ETHICAL PRINCIPLES IN RELATION TO
PUBLIC SERVICE
 Accountability
- A Public Officer holds office in public trust and
is personally responsible for his/her actions.
 Decency
- An Officer is required to present himself or
herself in a respectable manner in conformity with
the morally accepted standards and values of
society.
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10. ETHICAL PRINCIPLES IN RELATION TO
PUBLIC SERVICE…
 Diligence
- This requires that a Public Officer should be
careful and meticulous in the performance of his
or her official duties.
 Discipline
- This principle is about the behavior of a Public
Officer in conformity with the rules and
regulations and codes of professional conduct.
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11. ETHICAL PRINCIPLES IN RELATION TO
PUBLIC SERVICE…
 Efficiency
- This requires a Public Officer to use public resources
optimally in the attainment of the organizational goals,
objectives, targets and tasks.
 Effectiveness
- A Public Officer should strive to achieve the intended
results in quantity and quality in accordance to the set
targets and standards of performance for enhance
service delivery.
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12. ETHICAL PRINCIPLES IN RELATION TO
PUBLIC SERVICE…
 Impartiality
- A Public Officer should treat all clients fairly and
without bias irrespective of differences in gender,
race, religion, disability or ethnicity.
 Integrity
- In the conduct of public affairs, a Public Officer
shall be open and honest.
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13. ETHICAL PRINCIPLES IN RELATION TO
PUBLIC SERVICE…
 Selflessness
- This principle is about the avoidance of putting
one’s own personal interest before that of the public.
One should not make decisions for financial gain and
other benefits.
 Transparency
- A Public Officer should handle the decision making
process openly and must always be prepared.
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14. ETHICAL PRINCIPLES IN RELATION TO
PUBLIC SERVICE…
 Professionalism
- This principle is about adherence to the
professional codes of conduct and exhibiting high
degree of competence and best practices.
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15. THEORIES OF ETHICS
Ethical Theories are the basis of the grand ideas
on which guiding ethical principles are based.
Ethical traditions stretch back to earlier recorded
history. Theories provide the framework for
analyzing ethical and moral issues as applied to
society and its governance.
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16. THEORIES OF ETHICS…
 Over the centuries, different philosophical
models, frameworks, and theories have evolved and
developed. This presentation will focus on only
two:
 Deontology
 Utilitarianism (Teleological)
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17. THEORIES OF ETHICS: DEONTOLOGY
1.Deontology
Deontology is a category of normative ethical
theories that are primarily concerned with
adherence to certain norms or rules. Deontology
is an approach or theory of ethics that judges the
morality of an action based on the “rightness”
and “wrongness” of the action itself.
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18. THEORIES OF ETHICS: DEONTOLOGY
Basic Assumptions of the Theory
 No matter how morally good consequences may be, some
choices are morally forbidden.
 What makes a choice right is its conformity with a moral norm.
 “Right” is said to have priority over the “good”.
 An act which is not in accordance with the “right” will not be
undertaken no matter how “good” the consequence of it might
be.
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19. THEORIES OF ETHICS: DEONTOLOGY
According to the Deontological Theory of Ethics,
the intrinsic significance of an act is the act itself
– the act itself is the criterion for determining the
“goodness” of the act. The Deontological Ethics
have it that: an action is right if it is in accordance
with a moral rule or principle.
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20. THEORIES OF ETHICS: DEONTOLOGY
A moral rule is one that is:
 laid on us by God.
 required by natural law.
 laid on us by reason.
 required by rationality.
 commanding universal rational acceptance.
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21. THEORIES OF ETHICS: DEONTOLOGY
Deontological Theory is a framework of ethical
practice whereby one fulfills absolute moral
duties regardless of whether or not good comes
from the actions. The act of carrying out that
duty is important rather than the consequences
of the act.
 An example of a set of deontological rules
would be the Ten Commandments in the
Holy Bible.
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22. THEORIES OF ETHICS: DEONTOLOGY
Points of Reflection
 A person is duty bound to keep his or her promise
to be faithful to your spouse even if a more
attractive person comes along.
 You are duty bound to always tell the truth even
if it costs your job.
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23. THEORIES OF ETHICS: UTILITARIANISM
(TELEOLOGICAL)
 Utilitarianism is a Theory of Ethics whose standpoint
is that an action is right if it promotes the best
consequences. The best consequences are those in
which happiness is maximized. This theory is an
approach to ethics which considers acts as morally
right or acceptable if they produce some desired
result such as pleasure, happiness, knowledge,
satisfaction, etc.
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24. THEORIES OF ETHICS: UTILITARIANISM
(TELEOLOGICAL)…
 It assesses the moral worth by looking at the
consequences for an individual. The value of a situation
is determined by its consequences. This theory is
consequentialist in approach. This theory is a model of
ethics which determines morality and correctness in
terms of social benefits.
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25. THEORIES OF ETHICS: UTILITARIANISM
(TELEOLOGICAL)…
Points of Reflection
 A Utilitarian will argue that we should keep our
promises only when keeping them results in
better consequences than alternatives.
 A Father steals food in order to feed his starving
family.
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26. SOME ETHICAL DILEMMAS
1.Should I support my bosses’ incorrect
views?
2.Should I sign a false document?
3.Should I accept a gift from a client?
4.Should I give preferential treatment to a
boss’s friend?
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27. WHAT IS AN ETHICAL DILEMMA?
An ethical dilemma occurs when choices,
although having potential for personal or
organizational benefit, may be considered
unethical. Ethical dilemmas include:
 Discrimination
 Sexual harassment
 Conflicts of interest
 Customer confidence
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28. WHAT IS AN ETHICAL DILEMMA?...
Ethical behavior leading to a dilemma can be
rationalized by convincing yourself that:
 Behavior is not really illegal.
 Behavior is really in everyone’s best interest.
 Nobody will ever find out.
 The organization will “protect” you.
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29. ETHICS AND PUBLIC GOVERNANCE
 Governance is about the activities or processes of
managing public affairs. It describes the process of
decision making and the process by which decisions are
implemented or not implemented.
 Governance is also about the process where by public
institutions conduct public affairs, manage public
resources and guarantee the realization of human rights.
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30. ETHICS AND PUBLIC GOVERNANCE…
In the conduct of public affairs and the
management of public resources, ethics plays a
significant role if there is going to be proper
utilization of public resources for the good of the
population.
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31. ETHICS AND PUBLIC GOVERNANCE…
According to UNDP, 2001, there is need for
ethical practice in Public Service because ethical
public officers foster socioeconomic development.
Whereas unethical practices jeopardize
development “resulting in a loss of confidence in
public institutions and an erosion of the rule of
law”.
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32. ETHICS AND PUBLIC GOVERNANCE…
 Ethics and leadership that leads Good Governance rests
on three pillar:
 Moral character of the leaders and all other subordinate
managers.
 Ethical values embedded in the organizational and
leaders vision, and the programmes which they either
embrace or reject.
 Morality of the processes of social ethical choice and
action that leaders and followers engage in and
collectively pursue.
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33. ETHICS AND PUBLIC GOVERNANCE…
Public Officials have the obligation to be ethical
when discharging their functions and
responsibilities to the public. They are expected to
keep to ethical principles, rules and values that
promote good governance.
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34. ETHICS AND PUBLIC GOVERNANCE…
The issue of keeping ethical principles is
critical for making good public policy and it
increases the likelihood that public officials
will make the right ethical choices based on
public interest thus boosting the confidence of
the citizenry.
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35. THE IMPORTANCE OF ETHICS IN
GOVERNANCE
It is well known that a Public Service of any
country is hinged on public trust. In the governance
of a country, the biggest and most important
stakeholder is the citizenry. Thus:
“citizens expect public servants to serve the
public interest with fairness and to manage
public resources ethically on a daily basis.”
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36. THE IMPORTANCE OF ETHICS IN
GOVERNANCE
 Fair, reliable and ethical public services inspire public
trust. The importance of ethics in governance is based on
the following:
(i) Ethics helps governments to instill and enforce
principles and standards of right conduct for public
servants such as honesty, trustworthiness, etc.
(ii) Ethics allows for a systematized appraisal of the value
of human actions and affections.
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37. THE IMPORTANCE OF ETHICS IN
GOVERNANCE
(iii) In the various processes of governance, Ethics will
help to discern what the best course of action is in a given
situation.
(iv) Ethics help to create the ability to put in place
standards to which people can hold one another.
(v) In governance, ethics is a tool that will create
conditions for protecting parties that cannot speak for
themselves.
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38. CAUSES OF UNETHICAL PRACTICES IN
PUBLIC SERVICE
 Greed
 Poor organizational culture
 Lack of integrity
 Circle of influence
 Breakdown of control
 Moral degeneration
 Remuneration issues
 Failure of employees to live within their means
 Materialism
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39. CORRUPTION
The unethical practices lead to a widespread
corruption. Simply put, corruption is the
misuse of entrusted power for private gain. It
is a breach of the trust placed by the public
……. officials.
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40. TYPES OF CORRUPTION
 Incidental Corruption
This is small scale corruption involving junior
officials. It produces profound public alienation
and it has little macro-economic cost although it
is often hard to curb.
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41. TYPES OF CORRUPTION…
 Systematic Corruption
This is corruption affecting a whole government
department or public enterprise. Such corruption
normally has substantial effect on government revenues
and may divert development such as only be dealt with
by sustained reform.
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42. TYPES OF CORRUPTION…
 Corruption out of need Vs corruption out of greed
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43. FORMS OF CORRUPTION…
 Bribery
 Extortion
 Embezzlement
 Fraud
 Favoritism
 Abuse of office
 Nepotism
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44. WAYS OF PROMOTING ETHICS AND
FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION
 Punishing the corrupt.
 Engaging the public
 Vetting prospective government employees
 Working on a systematic programme of
remunerating government employees adequately
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45. CONCLUSION
The fight against corruption is an uphill task that
requires concerted efforts of everyone. If the fight
against corruption is to succeed, first and foremost,
Public Officers must be ethical in the discharge of
their duties.
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46. CONCLUSION…
More importantly, for Uganda to achieve and
realize Vision 2040 – of transforming the country
from a peasant society to a modern and transformed
country, then we must seriously promote ethics and
integrity and fight corruption in public governance.
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47. COURSE WORK
 (a) Identify at least ten (10) legal and structural shortfalls
that are responsible for unethical conduct of public
officials in any administrative agencies that are familiar
to you in Uganda.
 (b) Using your advance knowledge in administrative law,
ethics and governance, propose at least ten (10)
administrative interventions to address the issues
identified in (a) above.
Hand in by 15th June 2019 before the Test
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48. THANK YOU FOR
PARTICIPATING
DR. MPK GALUKANDE
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