ROAD TO 2026! Don't give votes on bribes-lawyer Atumanya tips public

Amos Tayebwa

Mbarara

As campaigns for the next elections gear up, some candidates have started splashing money and buying electorates for vote favor. However, the Advocate of the High Court of Uganda and High Court of Kenya, Eliakim Atumanya Kapson has asked the electorates in Ntungamo and Uganda at large to be vigilant and avoid voting candidates on bribes based favors.

Atumanya who is a professional lawyer, a born Kajara County, Ntungamo District is concerned that corruption has been spread to the communities to the extent that most people who some of them are government workers steal money and use it for electoral campaigns but with no intention to provide service delivery to the people when they take those positions.

He said that corruption is almost driving this country to hell because mechanisms to fight it are still inefficient and there is a lack of implementation to those laws in place.

He called upon the Anti-Corruption agencies to intensively implement the laws and policies that are put in place to fight corruption.

He further noted that corruption has sabotaged service delivery and development in the country and therefore the public is asked to raise their voices and say no to the corrupt.

Atumanya also encouraged the church and community leaders to stand out and say no to corruption and create public awareness to know that corruption is dangerous.

“Let us not be the people to facilitate corruption. You find someone is giving money to the police, judiciary, even to those other institutions … .corruption is everywhere, whether it’s at village level whether its at national level we should all stand together and fight it. The penalties are there set, so every culprit of corruption should be prosecuted and get their penalties,” said Atumanya.

The learned advocate appealed to the voters to be vigilant in the forthcoming elections and look out for people who have no corruption tendencies and be keen to study why someone is injecting a lot of money in the campaigns to get into a political position.

“Let’s not sell our voice. Let’s not sell our tongues because of the little money and we lose our right to make a right choice to vote for someone who is going to represent us in parliament and other positions like in local government and other positions at the national level,” he added.

He further calls for a serious watch and investigations into some of the Government officials who are bidding for political positions as they splash in filthy money to the voters looking for the vote favor.

That these people have already come into early campaigns and they have already injected a lot of money into the people. He said that those who have been in Government institutions should be thoroughly investigated. He further said that some of these people are already found to have had cases in court over corruption related issues and now they are coming into politics and they are bringing in money to confuse people.

“Government especially, the Anti corruption agencies should intervene and investigate those government officials who come into politics and during the campaigns they start injecting a lot of money into campaigns. Why are you putting in a lot of money? And where did you get that money from yet you are a government worker?

”Let it be free and fair, you don’t need to put in a lot of money, just tell the people your intentions. You know when such people bring sacks of money to our voters, they confuse their minds.

“So they use their techniques they have been using in their official positions to swindle money and now they are bringing it to people who are innocent to blindfold them to vote for them and they get better into higher positions to do the same and you find now there is no service delivery, so I support the President’s idea that some of these people should be investigated,” said Atumanya.