For the 30 years corruption and the misuse of public office took a centre stage in Uganda, a number of people including foreigners have taken it as an institutionalised vice since it is now publicly practiced. People even have the guts to shamelessly and Publicly defend those who are involved in the vice.
The practice is creating an adverse effect on the development of the country, both politically, economically and socially.
A foreign investor coming into the country, will have to corrupt his way to get access to the official concerned person, in order to get permission for putting up a factory and will even have to part with some dollars to get the permission.
A security guard, charged with looking after the forest against encroachers, will take it on himself to sell part of the forest to encroachers, sometimes copying the example of top government officials who are partitioning part of the forest for their private use. When it comes to wetlands, it is struggle to both government officials and the locals, although in most cases the latter falls victim and they lose their catch-in the interest of the former.
Politically, the elective positions, which were supposed to be providing services to the citizens, have turned into the centre of corruption and misuse of these public offices for self-enrichment at the expense of the taxpayers. This has caused the worst adverse effect on the country as a big number of youths graduating today from institutions are eagerly flocking to elective politics, not to provide services to the populace, but for quick and easy self-enrichment.
No surprise the prevailing lack of proper services to the community, increasing corruption and misuse of public offices, tribalism in public offices, bloody political campaigns for elective positions, to mention but a few.
The vice of corruption, misuse of public offices, self enrichment and ethnical biasness, have gone deep into the citizens mind to the extent that even top leaders in the government have guts to defend this unethical vice. One time when complaints rose as to why 90% to top officers in the UPDF come from the same region, the defence was that they have the necessary qualifications and so is the same defence nearly in all other government bodies.
The opposition in Uganda which was supposed to provide an alternative government and fighting corruption, has also been engulfed in the ocean of corruption with those supposed to fight it turning into advocates for it. The on-going exchange of words in the National Unity Platform , over the three Parliament commissioners, Leader of Opposition and the Speaker, to seat and decide on the ‘Service award’ of shs 1.7billion they should allocate themselves from the public confers, leaves a lot to be desired. Of this, the former LoP Mathius Mpuuga got shs 500m which is now causing a fracas.
As the Luganda proverb says ‘the higher the monkey climbs, the more it exposes its nakedness’, this matter should have been sorted out within the party. Mpuuga as he said earlier that it was a mistake to accept the money, they should have found a way to solve it inwardly. But the more he goes ahead explaining and arguing over the issue, he will be acting like a monkey climbing the tree. He joined the party well knowing its core values and as one of its leaders, he is charged with the responsibility to show a good example to the subjects he leads. The matter of receiving a bribe of shs. 500m, has nothing to do with the matters of the Buganda Kingdom and protecting the Kabaka.
The escalation of this bribe is widening its tentacles and has now gone to the extent of exposing the dark part of the ICC junior minister, the Speaker of Parliament and others. Though there are supporters defending the the bribe that the former LoP took under the guise of a “Service Award”, a lot of bribe money or unapproved money is being looted in government, as the Luganda saying goes ‘Gwebakwatira Mukituli ……’, . So most leaders who engage in such acts should be aware that when all is done and the truth prevails, they will be the losers. It is therefore better to solve this issue behind curtains.
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The misunderstandings in opposition parties always have beneficiaries and the ruling party, the NRM, is jubilating at the confusion and unstableness in the opposition and is igniting it from behind. The NRM was behind the confusion and fall of the Uganda People’s Congress, UPC, by being behind the Akena faction and making it impossible to hold a delegates conference to elect new leaders, NRM is behind the confusion in the Democratic Party DP, through enticing its president into signing the so called memorandum of cooperation, The Forum for the Democratic Change FDC, the confusion it is engulfed in now, is over the huge unspecified amount of money that found its way into the party and it was suspected to be from NRM and now it might still be behind the confusion in the National Unity Platform NUP.
The agent to accomplish the project of bringing down NUP are inside there and it isNUP’s true and genuine carders to save their party. All the destabilisation of opposition parties is through corruption and the enticing of top members of particular parties. One time the NRM President declared that by 2026, there will be No opposition parties. Only time will tell.
This Story Has Been Written By Mr. Ndiwalana Kiwanuka And Edited By Mr. Kasozi Umar.
