Adopt new techniques to fight corruption, CSOs tell govt
Right-Left. Moses Isooba, the executive director of Uganda National NGO Forum (UNNGOF), Ms Magret Ssekaggya, UNNGOF bord chairperson and Mr Henry Nuguzi, executive director ACFIM address journalists in Kampala on January 31, 2023. PHOTO/PETER SSERUGO
Civil Society Organizations (CSO) under Uganda National NGO Forum (UNNGOF) have urged government entities in charge of fighting corruption and advocating for human rights to double the efforts in executing their mandates, saying “there is urgent need to revamp the national image from last year’s corruption scandals and gross human rights violations.”
During a Wednesday press briefing in Kampala, UNNGOF board Chairperson Margaret Sekaggya emphasized that the country is likely to have lost colossal sums of taxpayers’ money in a number of corruption scandals that were brought to the forefront in 2023.
Ssekaggya noted that: “These [corruption scandals] are not mere setbacks but significant obstacles that threaten to erode the very foundations of our nation’s integrity and prosperity.”
“They [corruption cases] cast a long shadow over our societal ambitions and also challenge our determination to foster a culture of accountability and transparency,” she added.
Alliance for Finance Monitoring (ACFIM) executive director Henry Nuguzi urged government agencies to learn to deal with the modern corruption tricks.
“Unlike the old days of money exchanging hands, perpetrators have learnt new tricks, we now have trans-national corruption rackets. Therefore, the government should invest in research and investigation if the vice is to be limited,” he said.
The CSO’s statements against corruption come barely a day after Uganda was reported to be among the 30 most corrupt countries across the globe and fourth in East Africa, according to the 2023, Transparency International global corruption index report.
Statistics from the same report further revealed that last year’s efforts against corruption did not yield any fruits as Uganda maintained its 2022 score of 26 per cent, which is still far below the global average of 43 per cent.
Among others, the key 2023 corruption scandals includes the misappropriation of the iron sheets meant for vulnerable communities in Uganda’s Karamoja sub-region under the Office of the Prime minister. A scandal regarding mismanagement of the gorilla tracking funds by some Uganda Wildlife authority (UWA) staff was also prominent in 2023.
