IGG cautions youth over increase in corruption cases

Dec 07, 2009

CORRUPTION is escalating among the youth in Uganda, the acting Inspector General of Government (IGG), Raphael Baku Obudra, has said.

By Daniel Edyegu

CORRUPTION is escalating among the youth in Uganda, the acting Inspector General of Government (IGG), Raphael Baku Obudra, has said.

Baku said unlike in the past where the vice was rampant among the elderly who had not planned for their retirement, the youth are driven into corruption by their desire to lead lavish lifestyles.

“In the past, the corrupt comprised people aged between 40 and 50 years approaching retirement. They were corrupt as a means to prepare for retirement,” he said.

“Now, it’s rampant among the youth who want to feed their lavish egos. Immediately they secure a job, they purchase an expensive car, marry a wife and construct a house within minimal time,” Baku added.

He said the fact that the youth take up the biggest percentage of the job market partly explains the higher levels of corruption in the country.

Baku was recently addressing the eastern region resident district commissioners, chairpersons, the Police, judicial officials and civil servants at Mt. Elgon Hotel, Mbale.

The meeting was about the findings of the third national integrity survey.
The report indicated that the main cause for the prevalence of corruption in the country was greed and low wages among workers.

He said the glorification of the wealthy who fraudulently acquire their possessions and negligence had fuelled corruption.

“In some churches, there are seats reserved for the rich. If the rich man does not turn up for prayers, the seat remains vacant for the rest of the sermon. People do not bother to ask how and where the person acquired the wealth,” Baku said.

He stressed that the inspectorate was facing difficulty in eliminating corruption in the public sector due to conspiracy among perpetrators of the vice. 

“Prosecution of corrupt officials requires evidence. Unfortunately, in some districts, the leaders are involved in corruption,” Baku noted.

“A corrupt auditor cannot give information to our detectives as that would be detrimental to him. Since there is syndicate corruption, we are going to apply syndicate prosecution,” he added.

The Pallisa resident district commissioner, Okoth Nyalulu, attributed the rampant corruption among the youth to lack of morals.

“Initially, most schools had religious foundations whose values were imparted to learners. With the liberalisation of the education sector, even the religious- affiliated schools lack moral education.

The people churned out of these schools gamble through life and easily succumb to peer pressure and greed,” Nayalulu said.

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