Author: Musaazi Namiti. PHOTO/COURTESY
The announcement last week by President Museveni that David Kalemera, a man the Anti-Corruption Court found guilty of a tax-related offence, will head a unit fighting corruption in the Uganda Revenue Authority shocked some people.
But there are many who just did not care. For them, what the President did was only to be expected. They were born and raised in Uganda, and for 38 years under the NRM and Mr Museveni’s leadership, they have never seen anything like a serious campaign against corruption.
They know everything about fighting corruption is mere rhetoric and/or lip service because they have seen way too many people who should be languishing in prison — with wealth they acquired illegally being confiscated by the government — but they remain as free as fish in lakes. And they enjoy their ill-gotten wealth in total peace.
Now young Ugandans are saying enough is enough. They know they need to do much more than making noise on social media and flooding the internet with documents about public funds being misappropriated. They want to get out of their comfort zone and stage a peaceful demonstration.
They have been organising meetings on X Spaces about the planned demonstration, and they will be marching on Parliament on July 23.
They will demand the resignation of the Speaker of Parliament, Anita Among, who was sanctioned this past April by the United Kingdom for taking iron sheets belonging to the people of Karamoja and by the United States in May for her “involvement in significant corruption tied to the leadership of Uganda’s Parliament”.
One of the march organisers, Suuna King James, has been vocal on social media about corruption in Parliament and once tried to protest but was arrested. Agora, a nascent online civil society outfit that promotes public accountability and human rights, has him on a list of 12 individuals it says have paid the price for criticising Ms Among.
Mr Suuna told me that government agencies that are supposed to fight corruption have “delegated their work to ordinary Ugandans” and alluded to a 2023 video clip in which Inspector General of Government Beti Kamya is telling Ugandans to expose corruption because she and top government officials are not victims of corruption.
It is not clear if the planned march will draw large crowds like those of Kenya’s Gen Z, who protested against the finance Bill that sought to impose high taxes, forcing President Ruto to abandon the Bill.
But there are sufficient grounds for the march to succeed. People are angry at the horrendous corruption in Uganda, a country helped by foreign governments to finance many projects because it does not have enough money, yet it somehow finds money that is misappropriated.
For all the hype about impressive economic growth, Uganda would struggle to stand on its own without money from foreign governments.
The US alone, through its 13 agencies that comprise the US mission in Uganda, invests almost $1b (Shs3.6 trillion) annually in Uganda. Healthy people are the backbone of any country, and the US says it spends a significant portion of this money on the health of Ugandans, of whom 1.3 million receive US-funded antiretroviral treatment.
The European Union is spending €896m (Shs3.5 trillion) on 115 projects in Uganda, ranging from fighting poverty and hunger to protecting the environment.
A country relying on foreigners’ money because it is poor should be harsh on embezzlers of public funds, but Uganda is not. Young people are now trying to take matters into their own hands. Will they succeed? Wait for July 23.
Mr Musaazi Namiti is a journalist and former
Al Jazeera digital editor in charge of the Africa desk
[email protected] @kazbuk
