Endemic corruption has earned its place in Uganda as it permeates every pocket of society, from sacred places such as temples of justice to the cloistered halls of Ministries, Agencies and Departments as well-placed civil servants chase the gravy train.
A quick scan of audits by the Auditor General, Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA), and Inspectorate of Government (IG) indicates that public funds are siphoned through wastage and mismanagement, dubious expenditures, under collection of local revenues, persistent medicine stock-outs, and poor record keeping, among others.
Name any local government entity—district, municipal and town councils, or sub county—and check the Auditor General’s report of any year, the red flags always recur.
In central government, the plundering, squandering, and misspending of government money mostly manifests through procurement deals for goods and services. The IG says procurement officials plan to steal right from the planning stage, throughout the different phases, to the execution of the project.
But often, as soon as the audit or investigation reports are shared, everyone moves on.
Bunyole East MP Yusuf Mutembuli (left) and Lwengo District Woman MP Cissy Namujju, who are accused of budget corruption, at the Anti-Corruption Court in Kampala on June 17, 2024. PHOTO | FILE
According to Global Integrity, a Washington DC-based nonprofit organisation that tracks governance and corruption trends, the police, the Judiciary, and procurement are areas where corruption risks are very high and under-the-table cash payments are expected.
This, as those implicated in massive corruption scandals, often received a slap on the wrist and others were reappointed to coveted positions as long as they did not threaten the President’s power base. The rag-tag liberators of the country pontificated 39 years ago that corruption and other ills in society drove them to pick up arms to fight a costly war in the Luweero Triangle.
Elimination of corruption and misuse of power was point number seven in the initial National Resistance Movement (NRM) policy prescription—the 10-point programme. Decades after taking the reins and, exalted like nobles, men and women have replaced the lasting image of haggard and shabbily dressed commanders with expensive tastes.
The leaders traded their constituents as pawns in a clientele-patronage system as politicians and their surrogates became the wealthiest class in society while the ruled were pushed to the lowest rungs awaiting crumbs from their masters.
One does not need to conduct a lifestyle audit to prove how corrupt officials have amassed ill-gotten wealth.
The Inspector General of Government (IGG), Ms Beti Kamya, vouched for a lifestyle audit which for long had been met with both disdain and resistance.
However, during the commemoration of the Anti-Corruption Day on December 9, 2021, at Kololo Ceremonial Grounds, President…