JUST ASKING: Can NRM gov’t win war on corrupt?

By Prisca Wanyenya

Anti-corruption activists have expressed doubts about the National Resistance Movement (NRM) Government’s resolve to fight corruption in the next five years, saying it is surrounded with too many corrupt people to fight this monster.

Cissy Kagaba, Executive Director-Anti-Corruption Coalition said that corruption is so entrenched in the system, and the President’s rhetoric is inconsequential because he can’t fight corruption if people implicated in the vice are also serving in this government.

“What the President is doing is lamenting. If there are other people who can do that job, then he should do away with such people that Government institutions found guilty. Get a new breed of people whose names haven’t been tainted then that way, the country will believe you are genuinely interested in fighting corruption,” said Kagaba.

This was after President Museveni accused the Ministry of Finance of making bloated projects that are later ‘legalised’ by Committees of Parliament with collusion of Office of the Auditor General just to get kickbacks.

But shortly after, the President defended his decision to name Alice Kaboyo, a former aide in State House, as State Minister for Luwero Triangle and Rwenzori Region.

Kaboyo was among officials accused of misappropriating Shs1.6Bn meant for the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (Gavi) in 2006.

Activists argue that defending corruption convicts is a mockery to the President’s own promise to end corruption, one of the highest forms of Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) in Uganda.

According to United Nations acts including; bribery, embezzlement, abuse of functions, trading in influence, illicit enrichment equate to corruption and when directly or indirectly generate cross-border flows, they are counted as IFFs.

Agather Atuhaire, an investigative journalist said corruption is everywhere in Uganda and perhaps, the reason the Ministry of Finance was pointed out, was because it is at a higher level being the Ministry in-charge of the treasury.

“Whoever believes that the corruption our leaders failed to curb in their early 40’s they will do at 80 years is just naive. Our leaders have never had the political will to fight it. They have on many occasions shielded and defended individuals accused of corruption. They have kept a deaf ear in all corruption allegations against some top ministers in government,” said Atuhaire.

Timothy Kalyegira, another Investigative journalist, recently wrote on Twitter, “Things are now getting beyond our leaders’ control. Even if you steal a Ministry’s entire budget, nothing can be done about it.”

Shadow Minister of Finance, Muwanga Kivumbi, said our leaders are orchestrators of corruption. “We spend upward of Shs7Trillion on classified expenditure which will never see the light of day. Until they open up on classified expenditure, they simply don’t have the moral authority whatsoever,” remarked Kivumbi.

When contacted, Kaboyo’s known phone contacts were off. However, Emmanuel Dombo, the Director Communications- NRM Secretariat defended the President’s decision to appoint Kaboyo as Minister saying people change and only time will prove her critics wrong.

Dombo said: “Kaboyo pleaded guilty, she didn’t waste time of the investigating machinery. I think she became remorseful and acknowledged she did wrong and she must be a very reformed person having tasted the wrath of the law.” Dombo said the ruling party has been trying to fight corruption for the past 35 years but is hampered by perpetrators who intimidate or compromise witnesses or investigators.

The 2020 UN report on IFFs put Annual capital flight from Africa at US$88.6Bn. The African Development Bank (AfDB) in 2015 revealed that Africa loses about US$148Bn to corruption annually. Latest estimates put Uganda’s loss to corruption and Illicit financial flows at Shs5.4Trn annually.

Development Co-operation Report 2014 Mobilising Resources for Sustainable Development by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) noted that even the best anti-money laundering regime cannot address money laundering when corrupt individuals at the highest political levels control the very institutions supposed to exert control over them.

Dr. Kolawole Olaniyan, Africa Legal Director at the Amnesty International noted in 2015 that African governments and leaders generally lack the requisite political will to tackle grand corruption and Africa’s only way to truly exercise its sovereignty would be prioritising a fight against corruption to reduce the incentives that allow other illicit financial flows to flourish.

Transparency International in the 2020 report, Corruption Perception Index ranked Uganda 142th position, scoring 27 out of 100 from the 180 nations profiled. Regionally, South Sudan ranked 179, Democratic Republic of Congo 170, Burundi 165. Only Kenya 124 and Rwanda 49 ranked higher than Uganda.

Joel Ssenyonyi, now Leader of Opposition in parliament said corruption is one of the pillars holding the NRM Government and it is why the leaders can’t do away with it.

“How do you tell me such people are interested in fighting corruption? I asked the IGG why do you go after the small fish? She said whenever I go after the big fish, I find them hiding behind big people,” said Senyonyi.

Kagaba said NRM top leaders’ threats to fight corruption will only be taken seriously by acting on the Auditor General’s report that recently revealed mismanagement of Shs4Trn funds meant to fight COVID-19.

The March 2021 Auditor General report highlighted that Police received Shs21.277Bn for COVID-19 intervention, but items procured had their prices inflated by Shs14.933Bn. Police also refused to produce procurement files worth Shs5.916Bn. However, no arrest or prosecution has been made.

This story was produced by Red Pepper. It was written as part of Wealth of Nations, a media skills development programme run by the Thomson Reuters Foundation. More information at www.wealth-of-nations.org. The content is the sole responsibility of the author and the publisher.