Ethics and integrity cannot be imposed

SIR— The Ministry of Ethics and Integrity is relatively new in Uganda’s political arena. I wonder whether the appointing authority understands its role in the nation, if at all it is a relevant ministry. If there are people who think it is relevant I wish to observe that the minister in charge executes her duties as a “national headgirl” or “Uganda’s Moral Whip.” I doubt that such a portfolio can cause the nation to appreciate this ministry’s role. The minister’s name is in bad books of many people whose conduct is “unacceptable” ( to her or to the nation, I am not sure). This includes her closest relatives and a number of government officials. integrity and ethics are very deep issues of the heart. Therefore, mere “denouncing talk” cannot be effective. Even the IGG will only catch culprits after they have messed, while the police will charge them after they have stolen, raped or killed, and not before. As is evident, integrity and ethics are issues that come before and are deeper than the offences which simply express them. Integrity has to do with “who we are when no one is watching,” and such an issue is held in a person’s heart defining the standards of wrong and right, good and evil for a particular individual. In our pluralistic society, I would suggest that the minister works to formulate the general moral standard of our nation which is not necessarily based on her own moral evaluation or even the prevailing social trends, but taking into account that it is all-inclusive. This standard should come from the populace, deciding the trend and thus the destiny of our nation. To this undertaking, a nation builds or destroys itself, and the minister can only play her part in either as a participating Ugandan and not Uganda’s saviour from moral decay. In this exercise, extreme conduct may be neutralised while excesses and conservatism find harmony. Ask Ugandans: “What is it that must characterise your morals, setting a standard for good living, and giving you a moral identity by which you shall collectively be known by in the rest of the world?” Such a process may harmoniously substitute for the endless fights with the Red Pepper and other “mischievous, unscrupulous citizens” whose lifestyles keep in constant conflict with the “headgirl’s” nagging. Julius TwongyeirweKampala