In a bid to eliminate corruption tendencies in all sectors of the country, the State House Anti-Corruption Unit (SHACU) has birthed plans to bring the citizenry on board to effectively curb corruption.
Israel Ochwo, the deputy head of SHACU said the reason of for involving citizens is because so many corruption incidents go unnoticed.
“We intend to effectively involve the citizens in the fight of corruption in all parts of the country because there are numerous corruption incidents which go unobserved,” Ochwo said.
He added that the Unit will start by providing citizens with information on how corruption manifests, information on the government projects that have been implemented and what their role is as citizens and the offices they can run to if any corruption cases have been observed.
“We have made recoveries of money, assets like buildings and we have made corrupt personnel to answer before courts however, a lot more is required to be done to put the corruption at bay,” Annet Twine director leadership code ,inspectorate of government said.
While speaking to journalists today 6th December 2022 at the media center in Kampala, the inspector general of Government Betty Kamya has also emphasized the need for the public to embrace the fight against corruption, stating that it’s the only window through which the vice can be successfully halted.
This comes at a time when Uganda is in preparations to join the rest of the world to commemorate the international anti-corruption day which is held on 9th December annually.
According to the statement released from the office of the Minister of state for ethics and integrity Akello Rose Lilly, the commemoration ceremony is set to be held in Ibanda town and thereafter the a rally will be held at Ibanda integrated primary school grounds under the theme “citizens must own the war to eliminate corruption. It’s their war.”
The minister also stated that the reason Ibanda district was considered to host commemoration is that it was rated the best performing local government in service delivery according to 2021 appraisals.
The day, which was designed by the United Nations General Assembly in 2003, aims at global observance to promote awareness about corruption, its dangers and how to prevent and combat it.
“His Excellency the president of the Republic of Uganda was invited as the chief guest but due to earlier scheduled engagements, has delegated Hon. Norbert Mao, the minister of constitutional affairs to grace the commemoration,” the statement read.
Other expected outcomes include improved citizen participation in anti-corruption initiatives, improved transparency and accountability in the delivery of public services and improved service delivery among others.
Earlier today, the inspector general of Government revealed that the Government through its numerous anti-corruption agencies has recovered over Ugx100 billion in a year.
According to Hon. Akello, the anti-corruption agencies include the Inspectorate of Government (IG), the office of the Auditor General, the Accountant General’s Office (AGO), and office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP).
Others include Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID), State House Anti-corruption Unit (SHACU) and Internal Security Organization (ISO) include state house health monitoring unit and Financial Intelligence Authority among others.
IG Kamya said the government is committed to fighting corruption and has put in place the required legal framework and institutions to fight against corruption.
