KAMPALA-UGANDA/NEWSDAY: The head of the State House Anti-Corruption Unit (SH-ACU) Brig Baguma Isoke has collective action in the fight against corruption other than finger pointing will win the war against corruption.
“The war on Corruption is winnable. Be patriots and remove the last obstacle to our development. You owe it to your country,” Brig Isoke said in comments at Kibuli to Uganda’s Criminal Investigators on Tuesday.
Quoting the bible in Galatians 6:9 the general said “let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap if we do not give up”.
During the 2019 state of the nation address, Yoweri Museveni recognized corruption as the last obstacle to Uganda’s economic development yet also the the National Development Plan III has identified key drivers of corruption to include a weak public sector management and administration; Inadequate operating standards and weak institutional structure.
Among others is inadequate controls, poor remunerations, ineffective Anti-Corruption agencies, a weak judiciary.
Uganda’s development goals have been hampered by the scourge and the nation is faced with poor service delivery, poor quality service outputs such as road construction and the government is suffering distrust from its citizenry.
But Brig Isoke said this is not the end of the road. He said the strategy lies in the implementation of legislations and policies and utmost use of institutions create to deal with the vice.
Uganda is notable for a wide range of anti-corruption agencies and polices. For example, the Constitution, The Local Government Act, Budget Act, The Leadership Code Act, The Public Finance and Accountability Act, The Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act, The Access to Information Act, The Anti-Corruption Act, The Whistle Blowers Act, The Anti-Money Laundering Act, among others are all laws aimed at a corrupt free nation.
institutions include the Office of the Auditor General (2008), Inspectorate of Government (1988), Directorate of Ethics and Integrity (DEI,), Public Service Inspection Unit, Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP,1962), Public Procurement and Disposal of public assets Authority (PPDA,2003), Anti-Corruption Court (2008), Financial Intelligence Authority (FIA,2014), State House Anti-Corruption Unit (SH-ACU,2018) and Leadership Code Tribunal (LCT,1995).
‘Government has put in place a number of fiscal public finance reforms that have seen the use of Information Communication Technology, e.g Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT), Electronic Government Procurement (e-GP), among others, Brig Isoke said.
For the years, 2020-22, SH-ACU, focuses on five strategic areas to combat corruption and these include prevention/Compliance; Crime Scene Management and Evidence; Arrest and Detention; whistle blower Protection; Secure Forensic Evidence and Detection:
Since February 2022, SH-ACU has had 365 suspects arrested and charged, an increase from 349 the same period last year. Those convicted are 48. The arrests conducted involves billions of government money misappropriated by officials.
At the Joint medical stores a raid yielded into the arrest of officials. Some top names include Jane Francis Olinga, Luswata Ivan, Onyingi Proscovia and in Masindi, the District Resident State Attorney Bwiso Bogere Charles and the district CID boss Sgt Kunihira Rehema were arrested.
Most recently, Nsambya carpenter’s leaders including Muleke Mosses aka Sadam
Mugoya Kennedy, Kagiri Edward and Others have been arrested and charged.
SH-ACU, has since inception registered achievements including Over Ugx. 35Bn recovered and saved, over 600 distressed Ugandans returned from Middle East, 319,842 complaints processed, 365 accused persons arraigned in court and 48 persons convicted.
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