UPDF 70% free of graft â€" Lakara

Dec 02, 2002

THE UPDF is now 70% free of corruption, the army Chief of Staff, Brig. Nakibus Lakara, has said

By John Thawite

THE UPDF is now 70% free of corruption, the army Chief of Staff, Brig. Nakibus Lakara, has said.

Lakara, now a year old in office as chief administrator of the army, was speaking in an interview with The New Vision at Hotel Margherita in Kasese town at the weekend.

“What we have been doing is to try to plug all loopholes by making the procurement process as transparent as possible,” he said.

Lakara said the checks included selective bidding even for classified purchases. “We open up, externalise and advertise so that we get the best bid for the money,” he said.

He said although the army had made significant strides, some of its dark spots were hard to clean.

Lakara said the junk helicopter and the Byakutaga scandals had tarnished the image of the UPDF.

Lakara, who said he was in the Rwenzori region to check on the soldiers’ welfare and talk to them about AIDS, said his office had also cleaned the army of ghost soldiers whom he admitted were once a problem.

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