West Nile leaders accuse IG, State House officials of failing graft fight

A section of leaders and civil society organisations (CSOs) from West Nile Sub-region have accused officials of the Inspectorate of Government (IG) and the State House Anti-Corruption Unit of hindering the fight against  corruption.

The leaders accused officials from the two agencies of arresting people based on rumours and in some cases conniving with accused people to fail corruption cases.

The leaders made the claims during an anti-corruption event held by Action Aid Uganda in Arua District last week.

Mr Yasin Matata Buga, the Resident District Commissioner for Obongi, accused officials from the two agencies of incompetence.

“We cannot continue to have people arrested and  released and continue to be in office. This shows that there is a lack of competence in investigating officers,” he said.

The chairperson of Terego District, Mr Wilfred Saka, said: “Terego has become a hot spot for arresting local government officers based on rumours. The officers from the Inspectorate or State House should not be used for political fights. This is why corruption cases implicating officers in these offices die at the inception of the arrest.”

Big fish

Mr Peter Debele, a former RDC, accused the anti-corruption teams of carrying out selective prosecution and leaving implicated high-ranking government officials to walk away scot-free.

“Why don’t you also go for such people if you claim to be fighting corruption in the country? They say fish begin to rot from the head. So, start from the head,” he said.

Mr Earnest Enzama from the West Nile anti-corruption team, said the biggest source of corruption in local governments results from procurement and recruitment processes, abuse of office for personal gains and impunity, which have resulted in an increase in poverty in the sub-region.

The director for ethics and integrity in the Office of the President, Mr Robinson Oduka, said: “The anti-corruption fight has some people who are easily compromised or do not do the work wholeheartedly.”

However, the head of IG regional office, Mr Jackson Kimah, denied any wrongdoing, saying : “We are not compromised on cases that are reported to us. What happens is that we later discover some of the cases are reported due to internal fights in local governments. This leaves us with no evidence adduced to prosecute suspects.”

Report

According to the 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index Report by Transparency International, Uganda is the 144 least corrupt nation out of 180 countries.

The Corruption Perceptions Index ranks countries and territories based on how corrupt their public sector is perceived to be.