H.E. President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has directed Resident District Commissioners and Resident City Commissioners to cause the arrest of corrupt individuals where credible evidence is established and lawful grounds for arrest exist.
I wish to inform fellow Ugandans of this new directive which marks a decisive shift in Uganda’s anti-corruption strategy.
For a long time, Uganda’s fight against corruption has followed the same bureaucratic script. When corruption is uncovered, a report is written and forwarded to another office, which then starts its own process before any investigation begins.
As these bureaucratic wheels turn slowly, the suspect remains comfortably in office. The danger is clear: by the time decisive action is taken, evidence has been tampered with, records altered and witnesses intimidated.
This is partly why corruption cases drag on for years and why many never end in conviction.
H.E. the President breathed new life into the war against corruption through a missive backing the ongoing anti-corruption monitoring tours by Ministers of Local Government.
In that letter, H.E. explained why Uganda must move from a report-based approach to a more proactive, hands-on fight against graft. The intervention followed criticism against Hon. Balaam Barugahara and Hon. Justine Nameere, who were accused of “kutomera” for exposing corruption and causing impromptu arrests outside established bureaucratic procedures.
But as the architect and chief champion of Uganda’s anti-corruption struggle, the President has a duty to periodically guide his team on the most effective way to defeat this persistent enemy.
His message was unequivocal: bureaucratic delays must not become a shield for corruption.
H.E. President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni’s resolve to fight corruption is not new. In the NRM Ten-Point Programme, elimination of corruption was Point Number Seven.
On assuming power, the NRM Government established and strengthened institutions to protect public resources – the Inspectorate of Government, the Office of the Auditor General, the RDC structure and recently, the State House Anti-Corruption Unit. These institutions have done commendable work. However, experience has shown that corrupt officials exploit loopholes and delays to frustrate accountability.
Recently, Deputy Inspector General of Government, Dr. Patricia Ochan Okiria, spoke about resistance faced by anti-corruption officers. Brig. Gen. Henry Isoke of the State House Anti-Corruption Unit and former IGG Beti Kamya have similarly spoken about cover-ups and pushback by powerful individuals.
The President is therefore responding to a real and persistent challenge: corruption must be confronted at the point of discovery, not months later when evidence is gone.
As Minister responsible for supervising RDCs and RCCs, this guidance is of great significance to me. During the ongoing anti-corruption drive, some members of the public have questioned whether RDCs are doing enough. I understand the concern. Yet some criticism has been unfair, given how their reporting system has traditionally worked.
RDCs are the President’s representatives in the districts and frontline supervisors of Government programmes. They inspect projects and are often the first to encounter abuse of public resources in health centres, schools, markets and communities.
Traditionally, an RDC who uncovers corruption documents it and files a report through established channels. The matter then enters a long process of scrutiny. When the public sees no immediate action, the RDC is blamed for inaction, even when the case is already awaiting action by competent authorities.
The President’s new directive is meant to close this gap. As Minister for the Presidency, I am therefore informing all RDCs and RCCs: your anti-corruption work must not end at reporting. Where credible evidence of corruption is established and lawful grounds for arrest exist, take timely action and hand the suspect to Police and other competent authorities for investigation and prosecution.
This does not mean RDCs should become courts or usurp the constitutional mandates of Police, the Inspectorate of Government, DPP or Judiciary. It means, where the law allows intervention, RDCs should not sit and watch a suspect destroy evidence, influence witnesses or continue stealing public resources simply because a report has been filed.
The purpose of arrest is not to convict. It is to stop further wrongdoing, preserve evidence and enable competent institutions to investigate and prosecute credibly.
We must appreciate that corruption thrives through collusion among officials who exploit systemic weaknesses. Some practices in local governments are now well known: alleged sale of Government jobs, manipulation of staffing figures to create ghost workers, inflation of school enrolment to create ghost learners, and creation of ghost beneficiaries in Government programmes.
Under the Parish Development Model (PDM), some citizens report being asked to pay bribes before being listed as beneficiaries. There are also cases where shoddy or non-existent works are certified for payment.
These acts rob Ugandans twice. First, they steal public money. Second, they steal opportunities from the very citizens Government programmes are meant to empower. Every shilling lost to corruption is a shilling that cannot build a classroom, stock a health centre, or transform a household.
The President’s directive is ultimately a call to courage and responsibility. As the President’s eyes and ears in the districts, do not wait for corruption to make newspaper headlines before you act. A report must not become a refuge for inaction.
Monitor Government programmes, listen to citizens, follow the money, expose wrongdoing and, most importantly, preserve evidence by handing suspects to competent authorities.
I also call upon the public to do its part. Report wrongdoing, reject bribery, provide credible evidence and stand with those who protect public resources.The President has provided political leadership, Government has built the institutions, and our dear CDF, Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, has reinforced that there should be no compromise with corruption. What Uganda needs now is speed, courage and results. Let us all act.
