President Museveni addresses the nation during the Budget reading in Kampala on June 13, 2024. PHOTO | DAVID LUBOWA
President Museveni has for the fourth time within three weeks addressed the problem of widespread corruption at the heart of government, restating that he means business in his renewed war on graft.
He yesterday announced taking a break from the 76th birthday feté for his wife, Ms Janet Museveni, to assure Ugandans that “these vices will be stamped out” once incriminating evidence is unearthed.
“The [ruling] National Resistance Movement (NRM) does not victimise anybody without proof. That is why some people think that the NRM is soft on corruption. We insist on proof, and apparently, proofs are abundant, but the responsible people have not been looking for them,” the President noted in a statement that his press team shared with newsrooms and on social media.
He wrote: “I am also fully in the war against obwiibi (theft) of government money, obutagambirwa (not listening to guidance) and okweragyiira, okwetuminkiriza (doing things that are not agreed upon)”.
Mr Museveni did not specify who had jumped the gun or how in his letter issued on the day this newspaper carried a splash titled, Game of Thrones, which detailed the disparate public views on graft between the political chief executive and Speaker of Parliament Anita Among, Uganda’s third most important citizen under the National Order of Precedence.
Speaker’s comments
The President’s comments yesterday came two days after Ms Among on Saturday told a public rally in Lwengo that the President had “heard” the electorate’s cries on the plight of their District Woman Member of Parliament Cissy Namujju, remanded alongside two other lawmakers, to prison on corruption charges.
He noted that he was not in the habit of discussing matters before the court because that would be sub judice.
Police’s Criminal Investigations Directorate led by Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIGP) Tom Magambo took the legislators into custody after the head of state ordered investigations into claims for which he said he had proof that Finance ministry bureaucrats, accounting officers and MPs colluded to pilfer tax payers’ cash through transactional budgeting.
The President called the connivance a “betrayal” in his State of the Nation Address on June 6, repeating the strident remarks a week later during the national budgeting reading.
“These corrupt people insult our heroes … They have now attracted our full attention … We shall crush this treachery,” he said on June 13.
The Anti-Corruption Court in Kampala had the previous day sent the three lawmakers: Ms Namujju, Yusuf Mutembuli of Bunyole East and his Busiki South counterpart Paul Akamba, on remand to Luzira prison.
They were indicted for corruption after the prosecution, based on police findings, averred that the accused on May 13 in Kampala solicited 20 percent as kickback out of budget increment they reportedly promised to lobby for Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) in the 2024/2025 Financial Year allocation.
Inquiries
These actions and follow-up news that dozens more MPs and bureaucrats were on the radar of detectives in the prosecution-led inquiries sketched the image of Mr Museveni’s turbo-charged assault on the corrupt before Speaker Among spoke out differently on the subject.
“The President [Museveni] has heard your cries where you said that ‘when your child misbehaves, you beat and say go back and do something good’,” she said to a yodeling crowd while launching Bukoto West MP Muhammad Ssentaayi’s Development Foundation, named after him, at Katovu Playground in Lwengo District.
She did not disclose where and when Mr Museveni expressed the views, but added: “And you are better off having a child, even if she goes and eats something, so long as she brings [some] back home … That [Cissy Namujju currently on remand on corruption charges] is going to be your Woman MP forever.”
Next course of action
In yesterday’s statement he signed as Ssabalwanyi (chief fighter), the President announced that he was turning to the masses, who are victims of corruption, and patriots of his ilk, to deal a blow to graft because the accounting officers, who are custodians of public resources, and Local Council officials, who should provide political oversight, had “let us down”.
“Corruption is diverting a lot of money that could develop the country,” he noted, citing findings by the Ombudsman disclosed last October that Uganda lost Shs9 trillion, an equivalent of 17 percent of the ending financial year’s Shs52 trillion budget, in official theft.
The masses, he said, can be encountered in the village meetings while some patriots exist in political leadership, at religious institutions, and among public servants.
“Therefore, the thieves are parasites that must be stamped out, and the undisciplined are saboteurs of our fast development and must also be stopped,” he wrote after citing possible ongoing massive tax evasion.
The Inspectorate of Government reported last year that up to Shs136b leaks through a porous tax system, adding to the country’s financial woes.
Museveni’s statement on fighting graft in government
Fellow Ugandans and, especially the Bazzukulu.
Greetings. Although busy celebrating Maama’s 76th birthday, I am also fully in the war against obwiibi (theft) of government money, obutagambirwa (not listening to guidance) and okweragyiira, okwetuminkiriza (doing things that are not agreed upon).
Since some of the cases are in court, the law does not allow us to comment on them. The evidence will come in court. However, I can assure the Ugandans, that these vices will be stamped out. The NRM (National Resistance Movement) does not victimise anybody without proof. That is why some people think that the NRM is soft on corruption. We insist on proof and apparently, proofs are abundant but the responsible people have not been looking for them.
Who are the responsible officers for money? It is the permanent secretary in a ministry, a chief administrative officer (CAO) in a district, a town clerk in a city or municipality, a gombolola (sub-county) chief and a managing director in a parastatal. In the Constitution, it is these who are responsible for government money, personnel affairs, and procurement, among others.
In the NRM time, we went back to the old system of the civil service based on merit through competitive examinations by the Public Service Commission. That is why we never bothered with corruption for a long time, knowing that there are capable people handling money, personnel and procurement. We now know that many of them have let us down. We shall, therefore, have to work with victims of this corruption and some patriots to crush this betrayal. Are the patriots there? Yes. Where is the proof? The 20,000 fighters that attacked Kampala from January 22 to 26, 1986, were mainly patriots. Otherwise, why would they do what they did without pay?
This corruption by public officials (policemen, medical assistants, veterinary assistants, chiefs, and teachers) was prevalent in colonial times and soon after independence. That is why I proposed the creation of the Resistance Councils (RCs), believing that people elected by wanainchi would guard their interests better than public employees. What has happened? We should examine this more and discuss it.
Nevertheless, it is possible to crush corruption through the alliance of patriots (I count myself as one of them) and the victims, the masses. The masses can be encountered in the village barazas, and others. The patriots are to be found in the political leadership, some public servants, the churches, among others.
Corruption is diverting a lot of money that could develop the country. IGG (Inspector General of Government) estimates Shs10 trillion per year!
There are also some indications that there is massive tax evasion. Uganda’s GDP of $55b, should be giving us 20 percent in taxes. This would be $11b or Shs48 trillion. Our real budget without debt payments is Shs56 trillion.
Therefore, the thieves are parasites that must be stamped out, and the indisciplined are saboteurs of our fast development and must also be stopped. This year, our economy grew by 6 percent. It will grow in double digits if we stamp out thieves and the indisciplined.
Signed:
Yoweri K. Museveni
Ssabalwanyi
June 24, 2024
