Uganda loses out on aid
Oct 10, 2007
UGANDA could not get funding under the Millennium Challenge Account because it fell short on the score of fighting corruption, the USAID country director has said.
By Cyprian Musoke
UGANDA could not get funding under the Millennium Challenge Account because it fell short on the score of fighting corruption, the USAID country director has said.
Margot Ellis told the media yesterday at the Sheraton Hotel Kampala that the funds administered by the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), aim at reducing poverty through sustainable economic growth.
Margot revealed that MCC instead offered Uganda $10.4m (about sh18b) to help strengthen anti-corruption institutions to help meet the target.
MCC bases eligibility for funds on countries’ performance measured against the public perception of its efforts in the fight against corruption.
Margot said the anti-corruption institutions to be aided are the Inspectorate of Government, Directorate of Public Prosecution, ethics and integrity ministry, Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority, Criminal Investigations Department, Auditor General and selected civil society organisations.
The programme will focus on preventing graft in public procurement, increase prosecutions of corruption offences and strengthening the role of civil society in fighting graft, she said.
The director for ethics, Alex Lubangamoi, noted that Tanzania was getting $698m in development grants from the millenium account, and that Uganda could qualify if only the public perception changed.
“Fighting corruption is our collective role. The only people who benefit from corruption are the corrupt. Our sisters and brothers are suffering,†he said.
He castigated the general public that condoned and celebrated the corrupt as clever and hard working achievers. “This has tended to make our work difficult as some sections of our society continue to shield the heinous acts of their corrupt relatives, friends or political cohorts. This is a vice that I wish to call upon you to expose,†he told the press.
“Do not only deal with the corrupt and their collaborators but also expose those who try to cover up for them,†he appealed.
According to the country’s improvement plan, critical deficiencies that prevented Uganda from qualifying for funding lie in the “Ruling Justly†category, that included Control of Corruption where Uganda scored -0.1 or 39%, Rule of Law (-0.6 or 40%)and Voice and Accountability (0.08 or 46%).
In his Independence Day message on Tuesday, President Yoweri Museveni asked the business class to report corrupt government officials who ask for bribes, vowing to “roast†them.
“I call on the businessmen to report anybody who asks for a bribe. It is not necessary to pay a bribe for anything. Just report the thieves. You will see the action that will be taken,†the President said.
Museveni said the country wanted to establish values based on zero tolerance for corruption. He dismissed criticism that little was being done to fight corruption.
UGANDA could not get funding under the Millennium Challenge Account because it fell short on the score of fighting corruption, the USAID country director has said.
Margot Ellis told the media yesterday at the Sheraton Hotel Kampala that the funds administered by the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), aim at reducing poverty through sustainable economic growth.
Margot revealed that MCC instead offered Uganda $10.4m (about sh18b) to help strengthen anti-corruption institutions to help meet the target.
MCC bases eligibility for funds on countries’ performance measured against the public perception of its efforts in the fight against corruption.
Margot said the anti-corruption institutions to be aided are the Inspectorate of Government, Directorate of Public Prosecution, ethics and integrity ministry, Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority, Criminal Investigations Department, Auditor General and selected civil society organisations.
The programme will focus on preventing graft in public procurement, increase prosecutions of corruption offences and strengthening the role of civil society in fighting graft, she said.
The director for ethics, Alex Lubangamoi, noted that Tanzania was getting $698m in development grants from the millenium account, and that Uganda could qualify if only the public perception changed.
“Fighting corruption is our collective role. The only people who benefit from corruption are the corrupt. Our sisters and brothers are suffering,†he said.
He castigated the general public that condoned and celebrated the corrupt as clever and hard working achievers. “This has tended to make our work difficult as some sections of our society continue to shield the heinous acts of their corrupt relatives, friends or political cohorts. This is a vice that I wish to call upon you to expose,†he told the press.
“Do not only deal with the corrupt and their collaborators but also expose those who try to cover up for them,†he appealed.
According to the country’s improvement plan, critical deficiencies that prevented Uganda from qualifying for funding lie in the “Ruling Justly†category, that included Control of Corruption where Uganda scored -0.1 or 39%, Rule of Law (-0.6 or 40%)and Voice and Accountability (0.08 or 46%).
In his Independence Day message on Tuesday, President Yoweri Museveni asked the business class to report corrupt government officials who ask for bribes, vowing to “roast†them.
“I call on the businessmen to report anybody who asks for a bribe. It is not necessary to pay a bribe for anything. Just report the thieves. You will see the action that will be taken,†the President said.
Museveni said the country wanted to establish values based on zero tolerance for corruption. He dismissed criticism that little was being done to fight corruption.