IGG names 80 most corrupt government agencies

Kampala. The Inspector General of Government (IGG) has named government institutions and districts most accused of corruption in the latest survey by the ombudsman.
The IGG’s report 2017 titled; “Bi-annual Inspectorate of Government Performance”, submitted to Parliament on Tuesday, also named the districts and municipalities most accused of taking bribes.
The list is based on complaints sent to the Ombudsman by members of the public and not conclusive investigations by the IGG.
Other accused parties include; town councils, head teachers, District Service Commissions and sub-county councils.
District administrations top the complaints list on corruption with 328 cases translating into 21 per cent of the grievances registered during the survey.
Kampala was named the district with most corruption accusations with 334 complaints (21.4 per cent).
In corruption complaints, Kampala is followed by Arua, Jinja, Mbarara and Mukono districts, respectively.
According to the report, Kampala topped the districts corruption complaints due to its location in the busiest central area.
The report ranked Rwampara, Pakwach, Maracha, Kibingo, Kalangala, Buyende, Busembatya and Gombe districts with no or the least corruption complaints.
The reporting period was between January and June 2017.
Some of the perennial most corrupt government institutions such as police and Judiciary, registered fewer complaints.
The police improved to seventh position in the 2017 survey with 3.8 per cent corruption complaints received against it.

Judiciary came in ninth position with 2.2 per cent complaints.
Although it was a drop from the 17th position in the previous year, it was an improvement on the number of complaints from 38 in 2015 down to 34 in 2017.
Ms Irene Mulyagonja, the IGG, attributed the reduced complaints against some of the government institutions to strengthening of their internal mechanisms to fight graft.

“Some of the government institutions have also put in place internal mechanisms to fight corruption. We do not know whether this applies to Judiciary and police, but the IGG will be interested in understanding the trend as well,” Ms Mulyagonja said in an e-mail response to Daily Monitor.
The Chief Registrar of Courts, Mr Paul Gadenya, attributed the decline in corruption complaints against the Judiciary to strengthening their inspectorate department that deals with complaints against errant judicial officers.

He also attributed it to case backlog committee that is following up pending cases in the court system.
“Once the cases of litigants are resolved in a short period, usually this translates into very few complaints from the public,” Mr Gadenya said.
The 2017 report has more corruption complaints standing at 328 against district administrations or local governments compared to 175 cases in the 2016 survey.

However, the report shows an overall increase in the number of complaints (1,560) that were reported to the IGG office compared to 923 registered in 2016.
Explaining the increase in the complaints, the IGG attributed it to increased corruption awareness among the public.

“There are many reasons ranging from being aware that they can bring complaints to the IGG, increase in confidence of the IGG work and also knowing through our education interventions that when government systems have failed, you have where to go- the IGG,” Ms Mulyagonja said.
The report also highlighted some of the high-profile cases the IGG handled during the 2017 reporting period.
They include the alleged fraudulent collection of tuition fees and admission of students by some staff of Kyambogo University during 2011/2012 academic year when the IGG recommended dismissal of 16 staff, disciplinary action against 11 staff and caution against three.

Other cases were; alleged fraud in procurement of street lights by Kampala Capital City Authority, alleged abuse of office by Uganda Broadcasting Corporation, alleged irregular procurement of a junk C-130 Cargo Plane, keeping of ghost pilots on payroll and non- payment of salaries to staff by officials of Uganda Air Cargo Corporation.
Others were; the alleged irregular travels (foreign trips) by the executive director of Uganda Wild Life Authority, alleged abuse of office, diversion and causing financial loss.

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