Voters must reject politicians implicated in corruption

Three stories in the Saturday Vision of August 28, summarise the essence of this article. On the front page was a revelation of 187 billion lost in government companies; the second story said “Kawolo Hospital a death Trap” and the last and most absurd was “War erupts over Museveni Cash” carried in the ‘Crazy Krazy World’ pictures. In the pictorial, the President is pictured handing over the characteristic envelop to performers and thereafter, a war erupts over the said cash. One man is left in only underwear yet, even after losing both his clothes and dignity, this man according to the caption, did not get the money!

At an average 18 per cent Vat, Ugandans pay an average of Shs450 in taxes on the basics like soap, sugar, and tooth paste. A person who uses at the lower end of 12 bars of soap in a year pays Shs5,400 in taxes and so is sugar. Meanwhile, peasants who use paraffin pay Shs250 in taxes per litre.

A household that uses two litres per month therefore parts with Shs6,000 a year in taxes. If we multiplied Shs6,000 with the number of households that use paraffin in this country, it is a wholesome figure. It is not a surprise that today, the government boasts of seven or so trillion collections.

However, when it comes to service delivery, the tax payer is offered ‘Death Traps’ for health facilities, poor education in universal primary and secondary education, mass unemployment and humiliating poverty resulting into able-bodied young men stripping each other over presidential envelops! A closer look at the loss of huge monies in government companies, poor state of health, poverty and government insistence on the current Electoral Commission reveals corruption as a linking thread.

Last weekend, a group of civil society (NAFFE, NGO Forum, ACODE and PAC – Soroti), held another Citizen’s Parliament in Soroti under the theme ‘Tracking Corruption: one sure way to guarantee free and fair elections and accountable democratic governance in the country’. The Citizen’s Parliament is a deliberate move to take the debate about public loot to the countryside because underneath Uganda’s challenges is corruption with impunity. Making corruption a high political risk, these CSOs believe, may yield better results than merely begging politicians to fight the vice.

In Soroti, after listening to the findings of the Chogm probe report, presented by Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee chairman Hon. Nandala Mafabi, they (the people) adopted the resolutions passed by the Citizen’s Parliament held a few weeks ago at Hotel Africana, they emphasised that the two - term presidential term limits be restored to avoid a situation where a regime can hold Ugandans hostage; they demanded the reconstitution of the Electoral Commission which they said was a prerequisite for free and fair elections. The current EC, they said, has been proven to be compromised.
The people of Soroti also called upon political parties to front only candidates with a clear and proven track record; they said political parties should punish and recall any implicated persons from party leadership positions and that those parties that do not comply would be seen as condoning corruption.

Emphasising this, they said, “We shall reject any leaders who have been implicated in corruption scandals and also reject the political parties that front them.” Finally, they resolved that in picking their leaders, they would follow the Guide to Responsible Choice of Leaders that was launched by Bishop Zac Niringiye at the same function.

Ms Wokuri is the interim coordinator, National Alliance for a Free and Fair Election
wokuret@yahoo.com