Reinstate presidential term limits â€" Kahoza
Aug 20, 2009
THE chairman of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA), James Kahoza, has called for the re-instatement of the presidential term limit as part of measures to fight corruption in the country.
By Josephine Maseruka
THE chairman of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA), James Kahoza, has called for the re-instatement of the presidential term limit as part of measures to fight corruption in the country.
When there are term limits “those in power will be restrained from corrupt tendencies because they will be sure of change of governments,†said Kahoza, a former secretary to the Treasury and Auditor General.
He was speaking at a workshop yesterday organised by Transparency International and funded by USAID.
“Presidential term limits impact a lot on corruption. The terms have been eliminated but they were and are very crucial,†Kahoza told the participants.
The workshop discussed the need for an Integrity Pact, which is a tool aimed at safeguarding procurement from corruption.
Kahoza noted that despite the existence of many laws related to corruption, Uganda had become a society of thieves because of lack of political will to fight the vice at the top.
“Unless we clean the top institution that governs the country, we are wasting our time. The laws on procurement and corruption are there but these are very small issues. You must first clean the executive.â€
Kahoza also called it unethical for an individual to appoint the Electoral Commission (EC). He suggested that the EC be appointed by a neutral body.
He compared the current scenario to a referee of a football team being a captain of one of the playing teams. “What can you expect from such a referee?â€
The PPDA chairman further attacked Parliament for being “compromised†and supporting unethical things.
“If you determine your own salary, you have no moral authority to discipline public officers,†he said referring to the powers given to MPs to determine their emoluments.
He regretted that even the Speaker, Edward Ssekandi, a lawyer could defend such an act.
Miria Matembe, a former ethics minister, said the four years she served in that office had been wasted because the very people she fought are now ministers.
The Acting Inspector General of Government, Raphael Baku, while closing the workshop, noted that the motive for corruption in Uganda had shifted from poverty to greed.
“People have graduated from poverty as a result of low salaries to corruption for an affluent life.
If the Government increases salaries and the more you get, the more you want, how shall we curb corruption motivated by greed?†he wondered.
He pointed at shoddy work in classroom buildings which end up collapsing on pupils, and road construction where roads get dilapidate in less than a year
later.
“Shoddy work is bad but there are times when there is even no work and the money was embezzled.â€
Robert Lugolobi of Transparency International said the Integrity Pact, if embraced, would reduce the cost of doing business, increase service delivery
and promote good governance.
Over 70% of all African budgets go into procurement where corruption is considered high.
THE chairman of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA), James Kahoza, has called for the re-instatement of the presidential term limit as part of measures to fight corruption in the country.
When there are term limits “those in power will be restrained from corrupt tendencies because they will be sure of change of governments,†said Kahoza, a former secretary to the Treasury and Auditor General.
He was speaking at a workshop yesterday organised by Transparency International and funded by USAID.
“Presidential term limits impact a lot on corruption. The terms have been eliminated but they were and are very crucial,†Kahoza told the participants.
The workshop discussed the need for an Integrity Pact, which is a tool aimed at safeguarding procurement from corruption.
Kahoza noted that despite the existence of many laws related to corruption, Uganda had become a society of thieves because of lack of political will to fight the vice at the top.
“Unless we clean the top institution that governs the country, we are wasting our time. The laws on procurement and corruption are there but these are very small issues. You must first clean the executive.â€
Kahoza also called it unethical for an individual to appoint the Electoral Commission (EC). He suggested that the EC be appointed by a neutral body.
He compared the current scenario to a referee of a football team being a captain of one of the playing teams. “What can you expect from such a referee?â€
The PPDA chairman further attacked Parliament for being “compromised†and supporting unethical things.
“If you determine your own salary, you have no moral authority to discipline public officers,†he said referring to the powers given to MPs to determine their emoluments.
He regretted that even the Speaker, Edward Ssekandi, a lawyer could defend such an act.
Miria Matembe, a former ethics minister, said the four years she served in that office had been wasted because the very people she fought are now ministers.
The Acting Inspector General of Government, Raphael Baku, while closing the workshop, noted that the motive for corruption in Uganda had shifted from poverty to greed.
“People have graduated from poverty as a result of low salaries to corruption for an affluent life.
If the Government increases salaries and the more you get, the more you want, how shall we curb corruption motivated by greed?†he wondered.
He pointed at shoddy work in classroom buildings which end up collapsing on pupils, and road construction where roads get dilapidate in less than a year
later.
“Shoddy work is bad but there are times when there is even no work and the money was embezzled.â€
Robert Lugolobi of Transparency International said the Integrity Pact, if embraced, would reduce the cost of doing business, increase service delivery
and promote good governance.
Over 70% of all African budgets go into procurement where corruption is considered high.