By Apollo Mukhwana
The political environment in Uganda has made our elected leaders abandon or compromise their contract with the voters instead opt to serve their interests. This has made the election process an enabler, just a vehicle or ladder to get there, to get rich and not to serve.
The observation was made by the former Forum Democratic Change (FDC) Chairperson for Sironko District, Mr. Polly Mugoya, in a dossier he shared with our reporter. Mr. Mugoya says, “It is apparent and appalling that our elected leaders are incentivized to put their survival interests first ahead of the interest to serve their voters as promised during campaigns”.
According to Mugoya, Corruption is broader and deeper than what we can see with our ordinary eyes. It involves the embezzlement by individuals or systemic stealing of public money by the mafias in both government and private institutions and organizations. It involves many underhand methods, manipulations, and falsifications in the books of accounts.
Citing Nigeria as an example, he said fraud is everywhere which is terrible and sad. He says, “Nigeria has both oil and oil refineries, and their oil is on the surface which means their oil is cheaply extracted. Amazingly, there is a scarcity of Petrol at the pumps on the streets of Nigeria where sometimes because of desperation one is forced to buy it on the black market”.
Nigeria is one of the biggest producers of oil but scarcity comes about because of corruption and gross mismanagement. Something is wrong with our Africa, he said. Corruption happens with the complicit and starts with the Treasury and the underlying Departments like the Budget Department, the Audit Department, the Accounts Department, the Office of the Prime Minister, the Defense, and the Parliament.
The above-mentioned is where the planning and the cooking starts, the falsifying and the tempering with figures. The remaining Departments are just enablers, such as the Armed Forces, the Department of Works, the State House, Internal Affairs, etc. All within these institutions, there is endemic corruption where the ordinary eyes can not see through, but there is always much more to find after transparent checks and balances are done.
His comments come at a time when a number of key politicians have been accused of abuse of office and corruption. This wave has not spared the Speaker of Parliament Anit Annet Among, the out going Leader of Opposition LoP, Mathias Mupunga as well as the current LoP, Joel Senyonyi.
According to Bananwa Ivan an Economist, “In a failed state, corruption exacerbates existing issues, further eroding trust in institutions, hindering development, and deepening societal divisions, ultimately perpetuating a cycle of instability and despair. You are not only betraying your country but the future of those who will come after you”.
Following the rains that caused a delay of over 16 flights at Entebbe International Airport on Saturday 6th April 2024. Bananwa says the 1.7 Billion Shillings awarded to Mpuuga and others in parliament would have helped the drainage system to divert water to the sewage system or Lake Victoria to avoid such.
We are yet to see formidable action in the fight of Corruption, regardless of the many institutions set in place by the state for the same.
A report by the IGG indicated that Uganda is losing close to 10 trillion shillings to corruption annually. In the last financial year, URA collected 20 billion, suggesting that half of it was swindled.
Most of these funds are primarily stolen by public officers, who number just about 380,000, amidst a population of over 45 million Ugandans.
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