EAC IGGs call for govts'' commitment on corruption

By Moses Mulondo

EAST African anti-corruption authorities have called for more commitment and political will from the regional governments to fight corruption which they said is the major hindrance to service delivery.

The authorities made the appeal at the end of their two-day regional meeting on Wednesday at Imperial Resort Beach Hotel in Entebbe which was closed by the constitutional affairs minister Gen. Kahinda Otafiire.

Clement Musangabatware, the deputy ombudsman in charge of preventing and fighting corruption in Rwanda said, “There should be political will from the leaders if corruption is to be successfully fought. This should be complemented by strict enforcement of the laws, assets recovery mechanisms and sensitization of citizens to fight corruption.”

Musangabatware, who is also the outgoing president of the East African Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities (EAAACA), successful fight against corruption requires collaboration of stakeholders.

The newly elected EAAACA president Dr. Edward Hosea Gamya from Tanzania said, “Corruption begins in elections. If you elect corrupt leaders, you get corruption. The people of East Africa should elect leaders of integrity if they don’t want corruption.”

Dr. Gamya, who is the director of the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau in Tanzania, appealed to EAC states to quickly operationalize the EAC protocol against corruption which will help member countries harmonize their graft laws.

Halakhe Waqo, the CEO for the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission in Kenya, said, “The solution to corruption is commitment by particular governments and it must be from the top leaders. It should not be empty sloganeering but real commitment and empowerment of state agencies and involving citizens in the war against corruption.”

Uganda’s IGG Irene Mulyagonja said, “Anti-Corruption authorities need to be strengthened to their work because expectations from them are very high. Uganda is registering progress in the fight against corruption. More people have been prosecuted.”

She said if assented to, the recently passed Anti-Corruption Bill which was drafted by Makindye East MP John Ssimbwa will greatly help Uganda in fighting corruption especially in confiscating properties of the corrupt.

Otafiire said, “The fight against corruption is important for development. It is not possible to achieve much in development when you are grappling with corruption. In Uganda we have enacted so many laws but corruption is still a big problem. Corruption should be made a more risky venture.”

The minister proposed the need for regional governments to come up with mechanism for recovery assets from the corrupt without waiting for the cumbersome processes of courts of law.

On the question of political leaders like him who promote corruption by giving bribes to voters, Otafiire said, “We are always put under pressure by the voters to give them money. We are invited in churches, mosques and schools and asked to give them money. This is corruption. No wonder many leaders become corrupt as they try to get back what they invested in elections and many of them end up getting loans which they fail to people.”

In the 2012 Afrobarometer poll, 50% of the respondents/voters said politicians had on several occasions given them bribes in exchange for their votes.