Corrupt districts exposed

By Jossy Muhangi ETHICS and integrity minister Miria Matembe last Friday released a list of the 24 most corrupt districts, which she described as rotten. She asked the speakers of those districts to stand up during a workshop. Addressing speakers and their deputies at The Crested Crane Hotel in Jinja, Matembe said the most rotten districts were Lira, Busia, Kisoro and Mpigi, where councillors allegedly connive with civil servants to embezzle funds in dubious contracts, over invoicing, irregular procurement methods and participating in tendering under fictitious names. She said DANIDA money was embezzledin Kisoro district. Other districts named were Mbarara especially at sub-county level, Apac, Bugiri and Kabarole, where the chief administrative officer has been in hiding and Luweero. Matembe, who did not rank the districts in order, said she was quoting a report from the Inspector General of Government who has carried out investigations in most of the districts. She said other corrupt districts were Kumi, Pallisa, Kasese, Masaka, Arua, Mukono, Nakasongola, Sembabule, Kamuli, Kiboga, Bushenyi, Iganga, Hoima, Mbale and Kabale. Matembe, who spoke on the topic, "Towards Anti-corruption Culture: District Leadership Role," said corruption at the lower local government levels was too much.