Take solid steps to reverse graft situation

As the World Bank country manager, Mr Ahmadou Ndiaye, said there is “strong evidence that the integrity of the fiduciary system has been put into question and strong measures would have to be put in place to fight corruption.”

As Uganda grapples with the latest revelations of widespread corruption, a new report that reflects the state of the country’s efforts in dealing with the vice has shown that there is hardly any progress that has been made to address the problem.

The annual report on Tracking Corruption Data in Uganda, done by the Economic Policy Research Centre on behalf of the IGG, was released as part of the activities to mark the World Anti-Corruption Day. In many ways, the report only serves to confirm the suspicions and fears that are commonly held by the public. As she released the report early this week, the Inspector General of Government, Irene Mulyagonja complained about the low capacity of her institution to combat corruption. The IGG’s predecessors and other analysts have severally highlighted the capacity challenges that the institution faces.

If we were serious about curbing graft as a country it wouldn’t have taken a lot for us to fix these challenges. Perhaps, the IGG was spot on when she said the country’s top brains prefer to defend the corrupt rather than prosecute them. It is, however, difficult to appreciate how the so-called top brains would opt for defending the corrupt instead of prosecuting them.

The report which highlighted among others the soliciting and accepting of bribes, the increase in arrears and unbudgeted expenditure and access to public information noted that the only area of substantial progress was in the media, with reports of the press has published stories on corruption without being hampered. Well, it might appear so but usually this newspaper and the wider media go to great length and takes many risks to bring these corruption stories to the attention of the public.

As the World Bank country manager, Mr Ahmadou Ndiaye, said, there is “strong evidence that the integrity of the fiduciary system has been put into question and strong measures would have to be put in place to fight corruption.”

As we take stock of this year and look forward to the next, drastic measures ought to be taken if we are to reverse the current corruption trend.