Ministers’ wealth: Public reacts

By Joshua Kato

The Inspector General of Government (IGG) recently said that documents of wealth declarations made by public officers are public property. He said the public has a right to access this information in order to find out if what public officers declared is all that they have.

Lists of the wealth declared by ministers have already appeared in the media. The public had mixed reactions about it. Some said it was not morally right to show this information to the public, while others, including the IGG Jotham Tumwesigye, say the public has got the right to know.

The New Vision carried out a survey and below are some of the views of Ugandans.

Moses Byaruhanga, Private Presidential Assistant on Political Affairs, “I have no problem with the revelation of this wealth to the public,” he says. He adds, “This is in essence putting the law in practice. Otherwise how would the public know who has declared what?

Alintuma Nsambu, MP Bukoto East “It is not right for people’s property to be exposed to the public,” he says. He explains that the act of revealing public officers’ wealth to the public is not in good faith. “It is an embarrassment. Can you imagine the whole world knowing that the President of Uganda does not even have a single car of his own?” he wonders.

Sheikh Noor Muzaata, Chief Imam, says that revealing the wealth of public officers to the public is not right. “There should be confidentiality between the IGG’s office that is handling the leadership code and the public officers who are declaring their wealth,” he says. He explains that for fear of being exposed, public officers will start hiding some of what they have.

Henry Muguzi, Anti-Corruption Coalition of Uganda, says: “This is exactly what we have been telling people. The public should have access to information about the property of public officials, so that they are in a position to monitor it,” he says.

Ken Lukyamuzi, MP Rubaga South: “It is okay for our declarations to be put in public,” he says. He adds, “I even want the wealth of members of parliament to be publicised for the public to judge if the wealth is comparable to the money they receive.”

“Putting this wealth to the public has got several implications. First, if they declared rightly, Uganda Revenue Authority will use this chance to judge if they have been paying the right taxes,” says Edward Ssebunya. He adds that the public will also judge whether the declarations are correct or wrong. “We members of the public know what is owned by which person.”

Frank Tumwebaze, Presidential Assistant, Research and Information, “Putting this wealth before the public eye is the highest form of transparency as demanded by the benchmarks of democracy.”

He adds that it defeats the cheap propaganda from politicians that Museveni’s government lacks the political will to fight corruption. There is no will other than subjecting the head of state, his family and members of the executive to such public scrutiny.

Michael Mabikke, member of parliament for Makindye East: “The revelations helped us discover that the president and his ministers lied about their wealth,” he says. He adds, “If the President has only sh5m on his account, where did he get the money to take his daughters for treatment in Germany?”

Abdul Katuntu, member of parliament for Bugweri: “I think that all those who wanted to view the wealth of public leaders should have gone to the IGG and asked for it, but not through the media,” he says. He explains that not every one should know your wealth.

James Mwandha, member of parliament for disabled persons: “I don’t have any problem with the public viewing my wealth. They have a right to know under the leadership code,” he says. He calls upon whoever knows a public officer who lied about his or her wealth to come out and report him to the IGG.

Aggrey Awori, member of Parliament for Samia Bugwe North, “If you don’t want to be transparent, get out of public office,” he says. He explains that by putting this property before public scrutiny, public officers should explain how they own mansions worth 200 million shillings in Naguru and Bugolobi, yet they earn less than one million shillings. “Let them account for that property,” he says.

Reverend Paul Matte, “I don’t have any problem if this property is put before the public in good faith. I only have a problem –– if this property is put before the public with a hidden agenda, say to show the world how rich or how poverty stricken some public officers are,” he says.

Muwanga Lutaaya, National Speaker Uganda Young Movement, “It is the first time in Uganda that people are getting a chance to look at the wealth of public officers,” he says. He requests that the exposure goes down to all leaders in the country, including district leaders.

Views of Ugandans online:
For a start, there must exist a Register of Interests by all MPs, and made public. It’s no coincidence billionaires and millionaires are made once MPs settle in those seats. For too long people have used and abused Parliament and Government offices to enrich themselves.

That is taxpayer’s, not Government money. We who are very concerned about how our taxes are spent have the right to such information. Transparency from the highest offices in the land is one way of controlling corruption, says Peter Senoga

Michael: “IGG needs teeth, not a big mouth. It is all well and good to have an IGG, but what use is it if it is not made independent, and is not given the powers to pursue, arrest and prosecute corrupt public officials?

If government proposals to dilute the powers of the IGG are not stopped, they might as well abolish this agency. After all, a dog that cannot bite is no use to anyone in a crisis, no matter how loud its bark. Give it sharp teeth or put it down.”

Amon Karagara, Texas, USA “Am I missing the point? Is it the issue of corruption or something else? These public officials are always investing abroad. Is the IGG able to follow what these guys do abroad?

In fact, we will witness some changes in the Ugandan economy due to huge capital outflows. This phenomenon already exists, and making such officials declare all their wealth in public may not solve anything. It would in fact harm the country’s level of investment. If these officials realise they can’t stop their usual acts, they will shift their assets abroad. Please be careful on this.”

Dascio Apollo Onegi: “If we want civil strife in our country, let the IGG go on and have everyone’s wealth put out to the public. However, considering the nature of our society and the level of development, we cannot afford to have this done this way. What I am for is the IGG to be funded to carry out independent investigations rather than go this way.

Now the list is out and one of the major findings was that most ministers have foreign accounts. Are they declaring how much they have in those accounts? If so, how about those who will not reveal such information? It is actually not just the accounts but assets as well.

Then there are those who will now begin (or are already) transferring the funds to their relatives. How will the IGG ensure this does not happen? Uganda needs some more stringent measures of fighting corruption, not just public declaration of property, says Amon Karagara.

Lubulwa: “Government leaders’ wealth should be made public as the law demands, but this requirement should be extended to include all public officers. Corruption is found at all levels in the public offices. If officers in middle strata were not corrupt, it would also be very difficult for the top management to be corrupt. I personally suspect that a lot of unethical behaviour goes on in the lower levels of management in public offices than at the top.”