President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has called for stern sentences to all corrupt individuals saying this will help in curbing the vice which has retarded service delivery in the country.
Museveni said during the launch of a new anti-corruption campaign dubbed “Expose the Corrupt”. The campaign is peddled at creating awareness about the deadly vice and showing the best practices of how it can best be fought and manned down.
Uganda loses over Shs 600 billion annually in procurement frauds by government officials and other related corruption practices.
Museveni has raised concern with leniency from Judiciary when dealing with corruption cases. Giving examples of three national resistance army (NRA) soldiers who, in Semuto in 1982 who went to a bar, got drunk and killed three ladies using the principle of an eye-for-an-eye. The three soldiers were sentenced to death. The citizens of Uganda will appreciate sterner sentences that discourage the corruption vice.
Museveni directed the head of State House Anti-Corruption Unit Lt Col Edith Nakalema to keep in close contact with the business community saying that they have information that will aid in the fight against corruption in the procurement function of Government.
“Corruption is an ideological problem and therefore changing the mindset of citizens away from wanting quick wealth, using unscrupulous means is one of the best ways to man it down. The Anti-corruption institutions have been infiltrated making it a problem to fight corruption.” He said
“I was deliberate in setting up the various anti-corruption agencies. Previously, only the courts of law and the Police were the only agencies in place. The LC structure was supposed to the frontline in the fight against corruption, a people-led fight.” He said
He said the inspector general of government’s (IGG) focus is only public sector corruption, the graft in the private sector needs to be fought. That is one of the reasons why state house anti-corruption was created.
“Corrupt juniors don’t fear to be corrupt because they do things and get away with them. Top leaders, you are here to work for the people and not your juniors.” He said
He urged Col. Nakalema to get facts and expose the corrupt. “These people are easy to get but your work methods aren’t working. For instance why should there be corruption at the sub county level? Really the problem is the management of these institutions.” He said and implored the Col. Nakalema to link up with victims.
“We are using bureaucratic methods to fight corruption. The enemy has blocked the nose of institutions that are trying to expose the Corrupt. We therefore need to change how systems operate.”
Since inception, Lt. Col. Edith Nakalema’s state house anti-corruption unit has been working with the police and has arraigned 153 persons and 19 of these have been sentenced. The Unit has since intervened in murders, large scale land grabbing and theft in various regions.
