Electronic banking has transformed the delivery architecture of commercial banking in Uganda over the past decade, yet the question of whether substantial investment in digital channels has yielded commensurate financial returns remains contested. This study assessed the effects of electronic banking on the financial performance of commercialbanks in Uganda, using Stanbic Bank as the case. Adopting a positivist philosophy and a cross-sectional survey design, data were collected from 152 respondents drawn through stratified random sampling from a target population of 245 comprising branch management, operations and customer service staff, digital channels and IT personnel, finance and
treasury officers, and agency banking supervisors. A structured questionnaire measured four electronic banking dimensions, namely mobile banking, internet banking, automated teller machine and card services, and agency banking, against financial performance assessed through profitability, cost efficiency, transaction volume growth, and customer base expansion. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression in SPSS version 26. Findings revealed that mobile banking recorded the highest mean while internet banking recorded the lowest. All four dimensions correlated significantly and positively with financial performance, with mobile banking strongest (r = 0.694, p < 0.01), followed by agency banking (r = 0.641, p < 0.01), ATM and card services (r
= 0.563, p < 0.01), and internet banking (r = 0.498, p < 0.01). The regression model was significant, F(4, 141) = 52.83, p < 0.001, explaining 60.0 per cent of variance in financial performance, with mobile banking (β = 0.342) and agency banking (β = 0.279) the dominant predictors. The findings corroborate Wandera and Kumar (2024), who found mobile banking contributed 30.2 per cent and internet banking 33.2 per cent to financial performance at Centenary Bank, Kumi branch, and address the concern raised by Lydia et al. (2023) that it remains unknown whether large e-banking infrastructure investments have yielded better financial returns. The study concludes that channel effects are heterogeneous rather than uniform and recommends prioritising mobile and agency channels, rationalising branchlinked infrastructure, and strengthening digital fraud controls.

Electronic banking has transformed the delivery architecture of commercial banking in Uganda over the past decade, yet the question of whether substantial investment in digital channels has yielded commensurate financial returns remains contested. This study assessed the effects of electronic banking on the financial performance of commercial banks in Uganda, using Stanbic Bank as the case. Adopting a positivist philosophy and a cross-sectional survey design, data were collected from 152 respondents drawn through stratified random sampling from a target population of 245 comprising branch management, operations and customer service staff, digital channels and IT personnel, finance and
treasury officers, and agency banking supervisors. A structured questionnaire measured four electronic banking dimensions, namely mobile banking, internet banking, automated teller machine and card services, and agency banking, against financial performance assessed through profitability, cost efficiency, transaction volume growth, and customer base expansion. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression in SPSS version 26. Findings revealed that mobile banking recorded the highest mean while internet banking recorded the lowest. All four dimensions correlated significantly and positively with financial performance, with mobile banking strongest (r = 0.694, p < 0.01), followed by agency banking (r = 0.641, p < 0.01), ATM and card services (r
= 0.563, p < 0.01), and internet banking (r = 0.498, p < 0.01). The regression model was significant, F(4, 141) = 52.83, p < 0.001, explaining 60.0 per cent of variance in financial performance, with mobile banking (β = 0.342) and agency banking (β = 0.279) the dominant predictors. The findings corroborate Wandera and Kumar (2024), who found mobile banking contributed 30.2 per cent and internet banking 33.2 per cent to financial performance at Centenary Bank, Kumi branch, and address the concern raised by Lydia et al. (2023) that it remains unknown whether large e-banking infrastructure investments have yielded better financial returns. The study concludes that channel effects are heterogeneous rather than uniform and recommends prioritising mobile and agency channels, rationalising branchlinked infrastructure, and strengthening digital fraud controls.

Public trust in parliament is a cornerstone of democratic legitimacy, yet in many emerging democracies this trust remains
persistently low despite the existence of formal legislative oversight mechanisms. This study examined citizen trust in
parliament as a function of oversight visibility and media coverage, and specifically tested whether media exposure mediates
the relationship between the visibility of parliamentary oversight activities and the level of trust citizens place in the institution.
A quantitative, cross-sectional survey design was adopted, drawing a sample of 420 adult citizens selected through multistage stratified random sampling across four regions. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire that measured oversight visibility, media exposure, and citizen trust in parliament on standardized 0-100 indices, alongside demographic covariates including age, gender, education, residence, and region. Data were analysed using univariate statistics to characterise the sample and key variables, bivariate Pearson correlation and independent samples t-tests to examine pairwise associations, and multivariate ordinary least squares regression following the Baron and Kenny causal steps approach to test the mediation hypothesis, with bootstrapped resampling (5,000 iterations) and a demographically adjusted model used as sensitivity analyses.
The results showed that oversight visibility was significantly and positively associated with both media exposure (r = 0.425, p
< 0.001) and citizen trust (r = 0.392, p < 0.001), and that media exposure was the strongest correlate of trust (r = 0.481, p <
0.001). The mediation analysis indicated that the direct effect of oversight visibility on trust remained significant after
accounting for media exposure (c' = 0.196, p < 0.001), while the indirect effect through media exposure was also significant
(a×b = 0.140; Sobel z = 6.298, p < 0.001; bootstrap 95% CI [0.100, 0.183]), indicating partial mediation, with media exposure
accounting for approximately 41.7 percent of the total effect. The sensitivity analysis confirmed the robustness of these findingsafter adjusting for demographic covariates, although residence and region emerged as additional significant predictors of trust.
The study concluded that media coverage substantially amplifies, but does not fully explain, the relationship between visible
oversight and citizen trust, underscoring the joint importance of institutional transparency and an active, accessible media in
sustaining democratic legitimacy. The study recommends that parliaments institutionalise proactive public disclosure of oversight activities, strengthen partnerships with media houses to improve coverage of oversight work, and invest in civic
education to help citizens interpret oversight information independently of media framing.

This study compared Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) implementation outcomes in Chemistry and Physics performance among secondary school learners following the post-2020 curriculum reform. Despite the reform's emphasis on competency-based, learner-centred pedagogy and continuous formative assessment, science subjects such as Chemistry and Physics have continued to record uneven performance trends, and it remained unclear whether the reform had translated into comparable achievement gains across the two disciplines or whether disparities in implementation fidelity, teacher preparedness, and school resourcing accounted for observed differences. Using a comparative cross-sectional design, the study drew on a simulated but contextually grounded dataset of 420 learners (211 offsetting Chemistry and 209 offsetting Physics) drawn from a purposive sample of secondary schools, capturing pre-reform baseline scores, post-reform CBC performance scores, a CBC fidelity index, teacher CBC training exposure, a school resource index, and a learner engagement score. Data were analysed using univariate descriptive statistics, bivariate independent-samples t-tests and Pearson correlations, and multivariate ordinary least squares (OLS) regression, with sensitivity analyses conducted using heteroskedasticity-consistent (HC3) robust standard errors, an outlier-adjusted re-estimation, and a subject-by-fidelity interaction specification to test the robustness of the findings. The multivariate model explained approximately 46.6 percent of the variance in post-reform performance scores and showed that CBC fidelity, teacher training exposure, school resourcing, prior achievement, and urban school location were significant positive predictors of post-reform performance, while Physics learners scored marginally but significantly lower than Chemistry learners after controlling for these factors. Bivariate comparison of raw mean scores, however, showed no statistically significant difference between the two subjects, indicating that the subject-level disadvantage in Physics only became detectable once implementation-related covariates were accounted for. Sensitivity analyses confirmed that the fidelity effect was stable in magnitude and significance across robuststandard-error, outlier-adjusted, and interaction specifications, and the non-significant interaction term suggested that the fidelity-performance relationship did not differ meaningfully between the two subjects. The study concluded that
CBC reform gains in science performance were driven more by the depth and consistency of implementation than by the subject taught, and recommended targeted investment in Physics-specific teacher CBC retraining, equitable distribution of laboratory and instructional resources between Chemistry and Physics departments, and continuous monitoring of implementation fidelity as a routine element of curriculum reform evaluation.

This study examined disparities in learning outcomes attributable to the implementation of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) assessment reform across urban and rural primary schools. Guided by a comparative crosssectional design, the study was informed by human capital and equity-in-education frameworks and sought to establish the extent to which school locality, teacher CBC training, school resourcing, socioeconomic status, and parental involvement predicted learners' attainment of competency proficiency. A structured assessment and schoolcharacteristics questionnaire was administered to a sample of 700 upper-primary learners and their corresponding class teachers drawn from purposively selected urban (n=320) and rural (n=380) schools, using a multistage stratified random sampling procedure. Data were analysed in Stata using univariate frequency distributions, bivariate chi-square tests of association and independent-samples t-tests/one-way ANOVA, and a multivariable binary logistic regression model to identify independent predictors of competency proficiency while controlling for confounding. Findings indicated a substantial urban-rural gap in mean CBC assessment scores (84.7% versus 66.2%, p

Savings and Credit Cooperative Organisations have emerged as vital financial intermediaries in Uganda's inclusive finance architecture, extending credit and savings services to populations largely excluded from formal banking, yet persistent governance failures, financial mismanagement, and institutional collapse have undermined public confidence and limited the sector's developmental impact. This study examined the relationship between corporate governance practices and the financial performance of SACCOs in Wakiso District. Adopting a positivist philosophy and a correlational cross-sectional design, data were collected from 218 respondents drawn through stratified random sampling from a target population of 312 comprising board members, supervisory committee members, credit committee members, managers, accounts staff, and loans officers across registered SACCOs in the district. A structured questionnaire measured four governance dimensions, namely board composition and effectiveness, internal control and audit systems, transparency and disclosure, and member participation and accountability, against financial performance assessed through profitability, operational self-sufficiency, loan portfolio quality, and growth in savings and membership. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression in SPSS version 26. Findings revealed that board composition recorded the highest mean while member participation recorded the lowest. All four dimensions correlated significantly and positively with financial performance, with internal control and audit systems strongest (r = 0.724, p < 0.01), followed by board composition and effectiveness (r = 0.651,
p < 0.01), transparency and disclosure (r = 0.578, p < 0.01), and member participation and accountability (r = 0.516, p < 0.01). The regression model was significant, F(4, 205) = 68.94, p < 0.001, explaining 57.4 per cent of variance, with internal control and audit systems (β = 0.382) dominant. The findings corroborate Ivan et al. (2023) on internal controls and SACCO financial performance in Wakiso District, and address sector evidence that at least 25 per cent of Ugandan SACCOs struggle with loan default rates exceeding 40 per cent attributable to weak internal controls and poor credit risk management (Derrick et al., 2023). The study concludes that control systems rather than board structure drive SACCO performance and recommends audit institutionalisation, segregation of duties, and UMRA compliance.

Decentralization reforms have been promoted for four decades as a route to more responsive, efficient, and accountable government. Yet a substantial and growing body of research finds that transferring fiscal, administrative, and political authority to subnational governments frequently outpaces the parallel transfer of oversight capacity, creating gaps that local elites and officials can exploit. This article presents a systematic literature review of the relationship between decentralization, local government oversight gaps, and corruption risk. Drawing on peerreviewed journal articles, working papers, and institutional reports published between 1998 and 2026, the review synthesizes evidence across three broad strands: (a) cross-country econometric studies of fiscal and political decentralization and corruption; (b) institutional and case-based studies of internal control, audit, and horizontal accountability mechanisms at the subnational level; and (c) political economy studies of elite capture, electoral accountability, and community monitoring. The review finds that the decentralization-corruption relationship is neither uniformly positive nor negative but is conditioned by the design of accountability institutions, the sequencing of reforms, the strength of civil society and media oversight, and the degree of fiscal versus political decentralization pursued. Local oversight gaps understaffed audit units, weak internal controls, limited access to information, and thin electoral competition emerge repeatedly as the proximate mechanism through which decentralization elevates corruption risk. The review concludes by identifying methodological and thematic gaps in the literature and by outlining an agenda for future research and policy design.

This study examined the effectiveness of parliamentary committees in curbing public fund mismanagement among public sector entities in Uganda, motivated by the persistent recurrence of adverse Auditor General findings despite the existence of an elaborate parliamentary oversight architecture centred on the Public Accounts Committee and the Committee on Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises. Adopting a cross-sectional quantitative design, structured questionnaires were administered to 360 accounting officers, internal auditors, and finance officers drawn from ministries, departments, agencies, and local governments across the health, education, works and transport, and local government sectors, capturing organizational covariates, a composite measure of parliamentary committee oversight intensity, and a composite 0-100 Fund Mismanagement Index (FMI). Data were analysed in three stages: univariate description of sample characteristics; bivariate comparison of FMI between high- and low-oversight entities using independent-samples t-tests, chi-square tests, and Pearson correlations; and propensity score matching with Rosenbaum bounds sensitivity analysis to derive a quasi-experimental estimate of the oversight effect net of observed confounding. Univariate results showed that only 23.3% of entities experienced high oversight intensity and that the mean FMI stood at 58.67 (SD = 10.57). Bivariate analysis revealed a large and highly significant difference in mean
FMI between high-oversight (49.60) and low-oversight (61.43) entities (t = -10.68, p < 0.001, Cohen's d = -1.27), alongside a significant association between sector and oversight intensity (chi2 = 13.07, p = 0.004) that signalled nonrandom allocation of parliamentary attention. After one-to-one nearest-neighbour matching on 76 pairs, which substantially improved covariate balance, the average treatment effect on the treated was -12.77 points (95% CI: - 15.72 to -9.80; p < 0.001), a finding that remained statistically significant under Rosenbaum bounds sensitivity analysis up to a hidden-bias magnitude of Gamma = 2.5. The study concluded that high parliamentary committee oversight intensity was associated with a substantial, robust reduction in public fund mismanagement, while also revealing that such intensive oversight currently reached only a minority of public entities, and recommended expanded committee capacity, stronger enforcement mechanisms for committee recommendations, and complementary financial management system reforms to extend these benefits more broadly across Uganda's public
sector. Keywords: parliamentary committees, public accounts committee, public fund mismanagement, propensity score matching, sensitivity analysis, Uganda.

This study examined the relationship between employee job rotation and productivity in the public sector, using Loro Sub-County, Oyam District, Uganda, as a case study. Local governments in Uganda continue to grapple with limited service delivery efficiency, and job rotation has been proposed as a human resource strategy for enhancing employee versatility and productivity. The study was guided by three specific objectives: to examine the extent of job rotation practices at Loro Sub-County, to assess the level of employee productivity, and to establish the relationship between job rotation and employee productivity. A descriptive cross-sectional research design employing a quantitative approach was adopted. A sample of 120 respondents was drawn from a target population of 165 employees using Krejcie and Morgan's (1970) table and simple random sampling. Data were collected using a structured, self-administered questionnaire and analysed using SPSS version 26 and Stata version 17.
Descriptive statistics (means, standard deviations, and frequencies), Pearson correlation, and simple linear
regression were used to analyse the data. Findings revealed a statistically significant positive relationship between job rotation and employee productivity (r = 0.612, p < 0.01), with job rotation accounting for 37.5% of the variance in employee productivity (R² = 0.375, F(1,118) = 70.68, p < 0.001). The study concludes that job rotation is an effective mechanism for improving employee productivity in local government settings and recommends that Loro Sub-County institutionalize a structured job rotation policy with clear timelines, orientation support, and performance monitoring.

This study examined the relationship between financial management practices and the performance of organizations, focusing on Mukwano Industries Ltd, Lira Branch. The study was guided by three specific objectives: to establish the effect of financial planning practices on organizational performance, to assess the influence of working capital management on organizational performance, and to determine the relationship between financial reporting and analysis practices and organizational performance at Mukwano Industries Ltd, Lira Branch. The study was anchored on the Resource-Based View theory and the Pecking Order theory, and was informed by a review of related theoretical
and empirical literature. A descriptive cross-sectional survey design employing a quantitative approach was adopted.
The target population comprised finance, administrative and departmental staff of Mukwano Industries Ltd, Lira Branch, from which a sample was drawn using Krejcie and Morgan's (1970) table and stratified random sampling.
Primary data were collected using a structured, closed-ended questionnaire and analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), generating descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation coefficients and multiple linear regression estimates. The study is presented with an illustrative results framework demonstrating how descriptive, correlation and regression outputs for this design should be tabulated and interpreted; the branch is expected, in line with prior Ugandan and regional evidence on the subject, to record a positive and statistically significant relationship between financial management practices and organizational performance, with working capital management
anticipated to be the strongest single predictor. The study concludes that sound financial management practices are central to the performance of manufacturing firms operating in resource-constrained regional markets such as Lira. It recommends that management strengthen budgetary controls, formalize working capital policies, and invest in the financial literacy of non-finance staff who participate is resource-utilization decisions. The study contributes to practice by providing branch-level evidence to support finance policy in a Ugandan manufacturing setting, and to literature by extending the financial management practices-performance nexus, previously studied largely among SMEs, to a branch of a large manufacturing firm.