_____________

The State House Anti-Corruption Unit (SHACU) has recovered sh55b from the corrupt.

The unit was created in December 2018, by President Yoweri Museveni.

The unit’s public relations officer, Mariam Natasha noted that through the years, a total of 521 individuals have been arraigned in court. Of these, 87 have been convicted.

She noted that on average SHACU receives 200 complaints on a daily basis, but stressed that a lot of people file reports but neglect to follow up to provide specifics or evidence, which occasionally undermines some of these cases because there is never enough proof to prosecute the offenders.

“This shows you that people are engaging and we also respond. But given the workload and other challenges like the number of investigators, we are handling,” she noted.

This was during the third national anti-corruption marathon under the theme; "Strengthening partnership in the war against corruption," which was hosted at Bukwo district Boma Grounds.

It was organized by ActionAid International Uganda in collaboration with the Inspectorate of Government (IG), SHACU, Uganda Local Government Association, (ULGA) Uganda Athletics Federation (UAF), Joshua Cheptegei Development Foundation (JCDF), and Transparency International Uganda (TIU) among others.

“That is why this partnership is important at this point because if you receive 200 complaints, you can’t handle them alone, you need to bring the IG, Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID), Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets and that is why the strengthening of this partnership is very important,” she added.

Regarding the protection of whistleblowers, she stated that people can file complaints using different platforms without revealing their identities. 

During the event the government anti-graft agencies and local governments announced a new partnership with civil society groups to intensify the fight against corruption.

Despite several accomplishments, Natasha, said the previous strategy of entrusting the fight to citizens and governmental agencies needed to be strengthened for more results.

“We are doing this to strengthen the war against corruption at all levels. We believe that government agencies together with citizens, and the CSOs coming together is good to fight the vice of corruption,” she noted in an interview with the New Vision on the sideline of the event. 

According to her, the CSOs were invited on board since they have access to more remote locations and are always better able to bring these incidents to light for thorough investigation. 

“Bringing them on board is very key and it is going to be continuous engagement,” she added.

Joseph Muramuzi, an IG officer, noted that the fight against corruption has always been viewed as one that must be won by a few since it is perceived as a battle for the anti-corruption agency.

“We have to muscle up and join forces and take on this war together. Today we actively partnering with other agencies and CSOs so that we take the war to the corrupt and make sure that we sanitize our country,” he added.

He also noted many a time, because many expect to be rewarded 5% of what has been recovered, some whistleblowers give information which does not necessarily lead to recovery and at times give information which is not entirely correct, but want to be rewarded.

“I think we need to do a lot of work in informing and teaching the citizens about the Whistleblowers Act. In fact, we have realized that very few understand corruption in details and what actually it entails,” he noted. 

Muramuzi said the many people think that corruption only involves the exchange of money, yet corruption exists in many other forms including employing relatives when they are qualified in public offices, absentia from work, and abusing people and misrepresenting your authority at work and many others.

“Corruption is such a big monster that manifests in various many faces. That is why we have come on ground to partner with as many people as possible with the biggest stakeholder being a citizen because they are the ones who see, who know that the project was started in my village but it halted,” he added.

Using athletics

(Right) Moses Kipsiro speaking at the gathering during the anti-corruption marathon at Bukwo Boma Ground. (Photo by Jeff Andrew Lule)

According to Xavier Ejoyi, the Country Director of AAIU, Sebei's people understand athletics as the major sport in the nation, hence they are utilizing athletics as a platform to promote the battle against corruption.

“Athletics also represent a sport that exemplifies endurance. The fight against corruption requires stamina and endurance that we cannot easily give up despite the fact that it continues to persist,” he noted.

He mentioned that a lot of individuals of different ages, including five-year-olds, showed up to participate because of the marathon being their known number one sport.

“This helps us kill two birds with one stop as we fight corruption, we are also promoting talent. JCDF supports over 500 young people in developing the athletics talents, in education and we believe it is an important endeavor,” he added.

Winners of various categories received cash and other awards during the event.

Former world champion, Moses Kipsiro, who represented sportsmen, claimed that corruption was lowering the standard of services provided in their area.

“The community needs to be sensitized about the effects of corruption so that they know what role they have to play in the fight,” he added.

According to Jimmy Lolwor, the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of Bukwo, they now convene weekly management meetings to discuss how to proceed with the week's operations in light of the recent corruption incidents in the area.

“We hold extended planning technical meetings, which involve all parish and sub county chiefs to review the performance of grants sent to the sub counties. We also do the supervision of district projects together with the RDCs,” he added.

Juliet Chebet, a 30-year-old community legal volunteer and activist from Bukwo Town Council, expressed concern about the high degree of police corruption in her community.