The Role of Ethical Values in Promoting Accountability: A Case of Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries in Uganda

Abstract

The study explored the role of ethical values in promoting accountability in MAAIF. The objectives of the study were; To find out the role of ethics of rights, ethics of justice and ethics of duty in promoting accountability in MAAIF. The study used cross sectional descriptive survey design because it ably facilitated the collection of data from the different strata of respondents and helped the researcher to get the individual characteristics of the variables under study. The study used both primary and secondary sources of data. A self administered Questionnaire and interview guide were used to collect data and analyzed using a statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) software. Correlation and Regression tests were run to establish the relationship between the study variables .The findings revealed significant positive correlations between ethics of rights and accountability (r=.419**, p-value<0.01), ethics of justice and accountability (r=.488**, p-value<0.01), ethics of duty promotes accountability (r=.606**, p-value<0.01). The study reveals that lacking of ethics of rights, weak ethics of justice and inadequate ethics of duty impact of accountability in MAAIF. The study therefore concludes that ethical values affect accountability in MAAIF. The study recommends that more ethical values should be inculcated in MAAIF‘s officers such that they efficiently account for the ministry‘s resources. The study concentrated on examining the role of ethical values in promoting accountability in MAAIF. Future research should attempt to widen the scope of the study to all government ministries.