‘IGG, DPP should be monitored’ - CSO
May 15, 2008
THE Inspector General of Government (IGG) and the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) should be monitored, according to the Uganda Debt Network, a civil society organisation engaged in the fight against corruption.
By Joyce Namutebi
THE Inspector General of Government (IGG) and the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) should be monitored, according to the Uganda Debt Network, a civil society organisation engaged in the fight against corruption.
The proposal was contained in the society’s position paper on the Anti-Corruption Bill, 2008 presented to the presidential affairs committee yesterday.
The organisation’s chairman, Prof. Edward Kakonge, and the senior programme officer, Martha Nanjobe, said the Bill confers excessive powers and discretion on the IGG and the DPP yet their accountability function is not transparent.
“Our concern is who will monitor them. What option does the public have in cases where these agencies abuse their powers?†Nanjobe asked.
The Bill, she proposed, should put in place measures to protect the public who may become victims of the anti-corruption agencies.
The Bill, which was tabled in Parliament by state minister for ethics and integrity Dr. James Nsaba Buturo, provided for more effective prevention of corruption in both the public and private sectors.
It gave the IGG and DPP investigation powers and allowed the confiscation of property acquired as a result of corruption.
Nanjobe said her organisation wanted the definition of a public officer to include private businesses people whose operations are subsidised by the Government through public funds.
The proposal to have the words “public funds†defined prompted Kampala district Woman MP Nabilah Sempala to say that non-governmental organisations should give account to the donors and the public, on whose behalf they get money.
Nanjobe said public officers who false accounting, deserved stiffer penalties than a three-year jail sentence or the sh1.5m fine.
Kakonge alleged that there were corrupt people in the anti-corruption agencies (the Police, IGG, DPP) and this could hinder the investigation of fraud cases.
THE Inspector General of Government (IGG) and the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) should be monitored, according to the Uganda Debt Network, a civil society organisation engaged in the fight against corruption.
The proposal was contained in the society’s position paper on the Anti-Corruption Bill, 2008 presented to the presidential affairs committee yesterday.
The organisation’s chairman, Prof. Edward Kakonge, and the senior programme officer, Martha Nanjobe, said the Bill confers excessive powers and discretion on the IGG and the DPP yet their accountability function is not transparent.
“Our concern is who will monitor them. What option does the public have in cases where these agencies abuse their powers?†Nanjobe asked.
The Bill, she proposed, should put in place measures to protect the public who may become victims of the anti-corruption agencies.
The Bill, which was tabled in Parliament by state minister for ethics and integrity Dr. James Nsaba Buturo, provided for more effective prevention of corruption in both the public and private sectors.
It gave the IGG and DPP investigation powers and allowed the confiscation of property acquired as a result of corruption.
Nanjobe said her organisation wanted the definition of a public officer to include private businesses people whose operations are subsidised by the Government through public funds.
The proposal to have the words “public funds†defined prompted Kampala district Woman MP Nabilah Sempala to say that non-governmental organisations should give account to the donors and the public, on whose behalf they get money.
Nanjobe said public officers who false accounting, deserved stiffer penalties than a three-year jail sentence or the sh1.5m fine.
Kakonge alleged that there were corrupt people in the anti-corruption agencies (the Police, IGG, DPP) and this could hinder the investigation of fraud cases.