Victims should lead fight against corruption - IGG
Inspector General of Government Beti Kamya (centre) interacts with Mrr Joshua Lwere, the General Overseer of the National Fellowship of Born Again Pentecostal Churches of Uganda (right), and Ms Irene Kaggwa Sewankambo, the acting executive director of Uganda Communications Commission, during the ethics and integrity training for UCC management team in Bugolobi, Kampala, yesterday. PHOTO / FRANK BAGUMA
What you need to know:
- She made the remarks while officiating at the opening of the ethics and integrity training for Uganda Communications Commission staff in Kampala yesterday.
The Inspector-General of Government (IGG), Ms Beti Kamya, has said people at the grassroots should play a leading role in the fight against corruption, because they are most affected.
“The war belongs to the people at the grassroots because they are the victims of corruption. They suffer most from the consequences of corruption because they have no options. They will suffer when there is no medicine in hospitals, when they use bad roads and when there is no chalk in government schools where their children study because someone has stolen money,” Ms Kamya said.
She made the remarks while officiating at the opening of the ethics and integrity training for Uganda Communications Commission staff in Kampala yesterday.
The IGG warned Ugandans to stop praising leaders who give them hand-outs and donations, saying some of them use stolen money.
“You lose a relative because there was no medicine in Mulago National Referral Hospital and he gives you half a million shillings to buy a coffin and you praise and thank him. If that half a million meant to buy medicine had not been stolen, your relative would not have died,” she said.
Ms Kamya said whereas the government has enacted several laws and put in place institutions such as the police, the IGG office, the State House Anti-Corruption Unit to fight corruption, the vice is still rampant.
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“The reason why corruption is not going down is because the people who have been left to fight corruption are not the victims of corruption. In fact most of them are beneficiaries of corruption because they fake receipts, fake per diems, and make procurement deals, get salary even when they have not gone to work. All that is illicit money,” she said.
The IGG added: “Some people hide files until you give them the money to find the file. They are living a lifestyle which is not commensurate with their salary. They may be earning a salary of Shs300, 000 but through hiding files, they get a lot of money.”
She also noted that the contributions from civil society and donors were not yielding much impact because most of their decisions end in meetings and workshops held in boardrooms and hotels.
Uganda loses up to Shs20 trillion a year to corruption. Of this, Shs10 trillion is lost in corruption such as under declaration of taxes, irregularities in procurement, absenteeism from work by public officers and degradation of the environment, among others.
The acting Executive Director of Uganda Communications Commission, Ms Irene Kaggwa, said integrity is key in winning trust from public and improve service delivery.
“You can see how the public service has lost credibility with the public because everyone thinks you need to offer a bribe before you are served,” Ms Kaggwa said.
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She warned people against abusing Information Communication Technology. “If you want development, use it to develop yourselves,” she said.
