As Uganda joins the rest of the continent today to commemorate the African Anti-corruption Day, the Inspector General of Government (IGG), Beti Kamya has urged Ugandans to own the war against corruption because it’s the only option on the table now to overcome the vice.
Kamya says the war against corruption is a war for citizens because they are the ones who feel its exact effect. Therefore in her new strategy, Kamya revealed that her office has purposed to co-opt all Ugandans in the war to combat corruption by enhancing public awareness about the cost and pain of corruption. This according to the IGG will stimulate the wanainchi to despise, detest and reject corruption
“The IG is thus mobilizing citizens to unmask corruption and take appropriate action. Under this approach, the Inspectorate will recruit all citizens at all levels to be ambassadors of anti-corruption. They will be trained to identify all forms of corruption and expose it others than being bystanders because they are victims of corruption,” she told journalists at Uganda Media Centre on Tuesday.
Kamya also noted that her approach will additionally focus on prevention through advocacy, education and community mobilization. “This approach is intended to incite the population against the public officers whose action of corruption are manifested through lifestyle not commensurate with their known income.”
She believes that through sensitization, citizens should be able to relate their personal experiences due to inadequate service delivery directly linked to corruption
“Citizens will understand that drug shortages in hospitals, poor infrastructure, and poverty among others happen because some people somewhere embezzled public resources which would have improved their livelihood. To popularize this approach, the Inspectorate of Government is using the media through the talk shows, and Barazas to educate citizens on their role in fight against corruption,” she said.
She revealed that fighting corruption is such a tough game that is why the IG is changing styles of combating the vice and one of the ways they have embarked is making impromptu visits to government facilities such as schools, hospitals and other public offices to monitor and inspect government programs to ensure good service delivery.
“For instance, the IGG made an impromptu visit at the National Medical Stores (NMS) and Ministry of Energy. As a result of these visits, investigations into alleged misappropriation of funds and abuse of office were initiated in both institutions.”
Kamya also revealed under her leadership, IG through the Asset Recovery Unit which enforces recovery of property in conviction-based matters, recovery of property in taxed matters etc, they have made a recovery of an accumulative amount of Shs33.2bn as of December 2022.
Corruption rates in Sub-Saharan Africa
According to Transparency International research in Sub-Saharan Africa, the region remains the lowest performer on the Corruption Perception Index (CPI), with an average score of 32 per cent. 44 of the 46 countries assessed still score below 50 per cent and significant declines in many countries outweigh the gains made.
Between 2019 and 2022, Rwanda has been performing fairly well in the Eastern Africa region with an average score of 51 per cent, South Sudan has the lowest rank in the region 13 per cent.
Ethiopia scored 38 per cent while Tanzania and Kenya scored 38 per cent and 32 per cent respectively. Djibouti scored 30 per cent while Uganda trailed at 26 per cent and Burundi at 17 per cent.
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