Transparency criticises Ugandan Judiciary

By Els De Temmerman

TRANSPARENCY International, an international watchdog on corruption, has criticised the way the Judiciary handles cases of corruption, both on the part of the prosecutors and the judges.

“Both institutions have come under particular attack for the ineffectiveness of efforts to prosecute incidences of corruption,” the organisation said in a report released yesterday.

“The Judiciary has been accused of itself being corrupt and occasioning delays in handling and completion of corruption cases.”

The organisation also argues that the procedures and requirements of evidence are not suited to dealing with corruption.

In this light, it says the creation of a special anti-corruption court is a good suggestion.

“This may help speed up the disposal of cases of corruption.”
However, it raises concerns of funding, manpower, a legal framework and rules of procedures, such as burden of proof, for the court.

It also warns that setting up a special court might fail to address the fundamental problem of slowness in the Ugandan trial process, and that assumption of speed in a special court might create a suspicion of unfairness.
The organisation further recommends that the Government should allocate more resources to the existing anti-corruption institutions to enable them combat corruption at all levels.

“There should be commitment of human and financial resources on the part of the Government in order to ensure the effectiveness of the existing anti-corruption institutions,” said the report.

The watchdog found that although Uganda had most of the policy and legislative measures in place to combat corruption, they are outdated and the institutions to implement them lacked sufficiently trained and motivated people.
“The training remains minimal, with a few senior staff of institutions such as DPP and IGG being sent for courses abroad.

Further, the staff is not adequately motivated given the poor levels of remuneration in Government institutions with a high turn-over of attorneys.”
It notes that the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) has to recruit new prosecutors almost every year “as attorneys, who had barely been in service for two years, leave for greener pastures in other organisations or private legal practice.”

It added that the Inspectorate of Government also lacks the staff to even look at the 1,000 declarations of wealth of public officials every year.
The shortage of manpower is particularly acute in the aftermath of decentralisation, the organisation noted.

“The potential for corruption has shifted to local government and has become ingrained in the districts and sub-counties, yet the Inspectorate General and Attorney General have few regional centres and staff.”

Instead of carrying out surprise and on-site audits, the representative of the Attorney General asks public officials in the sub-counties to report to them with accounts books, invoices and receipts.
“In effect, the auditors merely carry out documentary audit without verifying wether the services or goods were indeed rendered,” the report notes.
Lastly, Transparency International raises questions about the political will to fight corruption.

The organisation refers extensively to the case of Kakooza Mutale, who was sacked as presidential adviser for refusing to declare his wealth but was later reinstated after the High Court ruled that his dismissal was wrongful.
“The seeming absence of political will was already evident in the sixth Parliament where a planned parliamentary censure of the then Vice-President for mismanagement of valley-dam funds was hijacked by her removal from the agriculture ministry portfolio.”

The report also cites the failure of the Government to deal with issues surrounding the dubious sale of the Uganda Commercial Bank, the National Drug Authority scandal and the junk helicopters.

“Ultimately, where top public officials are widely believed to be corrupt, the average citizens have tended to see little reason why they, too, should not engage in misbehaviour and misconduct,” the report concludes.

“This mentality that has crept into the Ugandan psyche can only be arrested if there is more political commitment on the part of the Government to fight corruption among its ranks.”