Thank you Barugahara for fighting corruption
The local government ministry, which the two ministers head, is a vital bridge connecting citizens to the state and also ensuring that the people access basic services. Corruption is a vice that affects service delivery. Uganda annually loses more than sh10 trillion due to corruption-related cases. Any efforts made to fight this vice should be appreciated.
Amlan Tumusiime. (File)
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OPINION
By Amlan Tumusiime
A few days ago, I wrote to the Minister of Local Government, Balaam Barugahara Ateenyi, thanking him for the great job he is doing in the fight against corruption in different government departments. I must confess, as a National Resistance Movement (NRM) cadre, I am happy with Barugahara’s efforts together with his state minister, Justine Nameere. They deserve support.
The local government ministry, which the two ministers head, is a vital bridge connecting citizens to the state and also ensuring that the people access basic services. Corruption is a vice that affects service delivery. Uganda annually loses more than sh10 trillion due to corruption-related cases. Any efforts made to fight this vice should be appreciated.
In my letter to Barugahara, I advised him to request his own special team of police detectives and state attorneys from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) to help him investigate the suspected corrupt officials and successfully have them prosecuted to a logical conclusion. This is because some police officers and state attorneys “kill” files due to corruption, making efforts in curbing corruption cases less effective.
All the implicated officials were arrested and charged with theft, embezzlement and abuse of office, and detained at Kikuube Police Station save for the two CAOs who had earlier been transferred to other districts. The two were summoned by the Police, but four years and 10 months now, they have never responded to the police summons. They have never recorded a statement. It took the intervention of the Police Flying Squad to find the managing director of the construction company to have him arrested from Kampala. The charges on them included theft, abuse of public funds, causing financial loss and embezzlement.
The arrested officials spent only two days in the police cells at Kikuube Police Station and were granted police bond against my will and for the last four years and 10 months, they have never reported back to the Police. Both have skipped the police bond for all that time.
The Police, in their investigations, discovered that the officials had messed up several projects under Development Response to Displacement Impacts Project. This is a World Bank-funded project implemented by the Offi ce of the Prime Minister. The project helps refugee-hosting districts by expanding basic social services, creating economic opportunities and managing environmental resources. The Police also discovered that the named offi cials connived with a contractor who had been awarded a contract to construct a sh1.7b Nyairongo Seed Secondary School, another World Bank-funded project, and paid him 100%, well-knowing that the work was not complete and even the site was abandoned.
Also, the Ministry of Local Government had released sh1.2b as a start-up fund for the construction of the Kikuube administration block since the district had just been carved out of Hoima district, and the officials diverted the funds and bought two vehicles at sh360m and also bought a piece of land at sh260m. The balance of over sh500m could not be accounted for.
I made efforts to have the two CAOs brought back to Kikuube to record statements, in vain. I also made efforts of following up the files with the Police at Kikuube and every time they would inform me that the files were still at the regional office in Hoima.
At the regional office, I was informed that the files were sent to ODPP head office in Kampala because it is only the DPP or deputy DPP who sanctions embezzlement, causing financial loss or abuse of office fi les. For four years and 10 months now, the officials are still occupying public offices and performing their duties normally. They only served a punishment of “two” days in the police cells. The two CAOs have since been transferred to different districts after leaving Kikuube.
When I was planning to resign as RDC to participate in parliamentary elective politics, I tried to follow up on this matter again with the ODPP in Kampala and I was informed that during the time of minister Ogwang, many arrests were made in different parts of the country and the state attorneys attached to Ogwang then were overwhelmed by the big number of files, a reason why many criminal fi les have not yet been concluded. This is one of the reasons why I wrote to Barugahara requesting him to have his own team to avoid such unfortunate disappointments.
Fighting corruption calls for all stakeholders to work together and support one another. During my time as RDC, I observed that whenever you see local politicians defending technocrats, then pick more interest to find out why. After investigating, you will discover that the two sides (technical and political) are stealing and sharing together. Equally, when you see politicians accusing the technical people, just know the technical people in most cases are refusing illegal directives of politicians, especially awarding tenders or recruitment for jobs. Many politicians, especially district councillors, want to get tenders even when they do not have qualifying companies.
For example, the local politicians petitioned the Minister for the Presidency, Milly Babalanda, and the secretary in the Office of the President, Haji Yunus Kakande, demanding for my immediate transfer claiming that I was causing confusion and dividing the district. This is because we had ordered for the arrest of the suspected corrupt district officials. I also got challenges when I ordered for the arrest of the district vice-chairperson for taking bribes from job applicants and I ensured that he was remanded to Kiryateete Government Prison, where he spent one week. He refunded the money (about sh3m) to two job applicants who wanted to be recruited as teachers. Also, we arrested one of the commissioners of the district service commission for selling government jobs and made him refund sh10m to the job applicant.
Therefore, when I saw some people, including former Aruu County MP in Pader district, Odonga Otto, claiming that RDCs are not doing any work, I was surprised. The truth is: the biggest number of RDCs are doing great work and I am sure the Offi ce of the President has more accurate information because every month RDCs and resident city commissioners make monthly reports to the minister. It is unfair to generalise the entire RDC fraternity as not doing enough to fight corruption and monitor government programmes.
Finally, I implore Barugahara to pick more interest in the Kikuube arrests and find out why cases of embezzlement, abuse of public funds and causing financial loss to the Government can take four years and 10 months without being concluded.
Who could be behind this and why?
The writer is an NRM cadre and former RDC of Kikuube