Corruption is caused by lack of effective sanctions
THE management of weighbridges in the country is rotten to the core, according to a probe report released last week. Prof. Epelu Opio, who headed the probe team, reported that the system had been turned into a money-minting industry by corrupt Uganda Revenue Authority and works ministry officials.
By Prof. Augustus Nuwagaba
IN The New Vision dated Saturday December 12, 2009, Ntegye Asimwe submitted a missive purportedly intimating that “I was wrong in my analysis of the research I carried out in which I found that corruption in Uganda is caused by poor remuneration of public servantsâ€.
Asimwe was responding to the story carried by The New Vision of December 10, 2009 in which your reporter wrote that I presented research findings at Serena Hotel on December 9, 2009 and that the finding indicated that low pay of public officials was the main cause of corruption in Uganda. Both Asimwe and your reporter are incorrect.
I was invited by the Inspectorate of Government (IG) as a keynote speaker at the dialogue to mark the International Anti Corruption Day — December 9, 2009. The theme for the was “The Impact of Corruption in Achieving Millennium Development Goals.†(MDGs).
I presented a cross-section of causes of corruption. Here is a summary: I stated that the remuneration structure of public servants is a thorn in the flesh of efforts to fight corruption.
An example: A receptionist in one of the public agencies in the health sector earns a monthly salary of sh953,631 as compared to a medical doctor in Mulago who earns sh644,371 per month. This is not only ridiculous, but scandalous and a serious form of corruption that needs urgent attention.
Do those who set the salary structure in the Ugandan public service want our highly trained and revered medical doctors to halt their work and instead become receptionists and drivers in the so-called juicy public agencies because drivers in these “wet†public agencies earn more than a medical doctor?
In a study carried out by SNV, a Dutch international organisation, Uganda was found to have the highest level of absenteeism of teachers in primary schools.
This significantly discounts the earlier gains achieved in enrolment of children at primary level. It also undermines the tremendous investment, the Government has undertaken in Universal Primary Education. The major cause of the escalating corruption is the lack of effective sanctions against unscrupulous public officials.
In Singapore, a minister of housing who received a bribe of $100,000 committed suicide when he realised that Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew found out about this. These are the standards in these countries that have transformed them from peasant and poor to rich economies. But what happens in Uganda in a similar scenario? Your guess is as good as mine.
In Uganda, the corrupt are perceived as heroes, while the honest are ridiculed as stupid and naïve. These are the standards and values we have set for ourselves. As our honourable Justice James Ogoola said: “Uganda’s moral barometer has declined beyond freezing point.â€
Therefore, in answering Asimwe’s missive, I am very much aware that there is very high grand corruption in Uganda, mainly among the rich and privileged public officials. I had an opportunity to conduct the National Integrity Survey NIS (III) commissioned by the Inspectorate of Government in 2008 and on Page 17 of the report, I indicate and I quote “the findings show that the main cause of corruption in Uganda is “greed†as reported by 69.4% of the respondents.â€
This shows a major departure from the earlier findings of NIS (II) carried out in 2004 which established that low pay was the major cause of corruption in Uganda.
NIS (III) had a total of 12,201 respondents. Local expressions of corruption were also surveyed in the same study and people in the central region told us said: “Ebiyenje tebikwatibwa akatimba kanabubi†a Luganda adage literally meaning as “the cockroaches pass through the cobweb, but the flies and mosquitoes cannot pass through.â€
This means that some people are untouchable. And as the proverbial Animal Farm by George Orwell states, “Some animals are more equal than others.â€
How then can the battle against corruption be won? The corrupt are sadly glorified and this is the worst paradox of all time. It is indeed ironic that people who steal the largest amount of public funds are held in the highest esteem.
In many countries, the corrupt are shunned by society. On this issue, our dialogue at Serena made a 10 - point declaration, point number one being: “Once people that are engaged in corruption are known, they should be isolatedâ€.
If society develops such values, then the corrupt will have no space to brag around with their loot. In the circumstances, the state will have no option but to act in accordance with people’s wishes and aspirations. The writing is clear on the wall.
The writer is an International Development Consultant and Winner of International award for Significant Contribution to World Society.
reevconsult@infocom.co.ug
IN The New Vision dated Saturday December 12, 2009, Ntegye Asimwe submitted a missive purportedly intimating that “I was wrong in my analysis of the research I carried out in which I found that corruption in Uganda is caused by poor remuneration of public servantsâ€.
Asimwe was responding to the story carried by The New Vision of December 10, 2009 in which your reporter wrote that I presented research findings at Serena Hotel on December 9, 2009 and that the finding indicated that low pay of public officials was the main cause of corruption in Uganda. Both Asimwe and your reporter are incorrect.
I was invited by the Inspectorate of Government (IG) as a keynote speaker at the dialogue to mark the International Anti Corruption Day — December 9, 2009. The theme for the was “The Impact of Corruption in Achieving Millennium Development Goals.†(MDGs).
I presented a cross-section of causes of corruption. Here is a summary: I stated that the remuneration structure of public servants is a thorn in the flesh of efforts to fight corruption.
An example: A receptionist in one of the public agencies in the health sector earns a monthly salary of sh953,631 as compared to a medical doctor in Mulago who earns sh644,371 per month. This is not only ridiculous, but scandalous and a serious form of corruption that needs urgent attention.
Do those who set the salary structure in the Ugandan public service want our highly trained and revered medical doctors to halt their work and instead become receptionists and drivers in the so-called juicy public agencies because drivers in these “wet†public agencies earn more than a medical doctor?
In a study carried out by SNV, a Dutch international organisation, Uganda was found to have the highest level of absenteeism of teachers in primary schools.
This significantly discounts the earlier gains achieved in enrolment of children at primary level. It also undermines the tremendous investment, the Government has undertaken in Universal Primary Education. The major cause of the escalating corruption is the lack of effective sanctions against unscrupulous public officials.
In Singapore, a minister of housing who received a bribe of $100,000 committed suicide when he realised that Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew found out about this. These are the standards in these countries that have transformed them from peasant and poor to rich economies. But what happens in Uganda in a similar scenario? Your guess is as good as mine.
In Uganda, the corrupt are perceived as heroes, while the honest are ridiculed as stupid and naïve. These are the standards and values we have set for ourselves. As our honourable Justice James Ogoola said: “Uganda’s moral barometer has declined beyond freezing point.â€
Therefore, in answering Asimwe’s missive, I am very much aware that there is very high grand corruption in Uganda, mainly among the rich and privileged public officials. I had an opportunity to conduct the National Integrity Survey NIS (III) commissioned by the Inspectorate of Government in 2008 and on Page 17 of the report, I indicate and I quote “the findings show that the main cause of corruption in Uganda is “greed†as reported by 69.4% of the respondents.â€
This shows a major departure from the earlier findings of NIS (II) carried out in 2004 which established that low pay was the major cause of corruption in Uganda.
NIS (III) had a total of 12,201 respondents. Local expressions of corruption were also surveyed in the same study and people in the central region told us said: “Ebiyenje tebikwatibwa akatimba kanabubi†a Luganda adage literally meaning as “the cockroaches pass through the cobweb, but the flies and mosquitoes cannot pass through.â€
This means that some people are untouchable. And as the proverbial Animal Farm by George Orwell states, “Some animals are more equal than others.â€
How then can the battle against corruption be won? The corrupt are sadly glorified and this is the worst paradox of all time. It is indeed ironic that people who steal the largest amount of public funds are held in the highest esteem.
In many countries, the corrupt are shunned by society. On this issue, our dialogue at Serena made a 10 - point declaration, point number one being: “Once people that are engaged in corruption are known, they should be isolatedâ€.
If society develops such values, then the corrupt will have no space to brag around with their loot. In the circumstances, the state will have no option but to act in accordance with people’s wishes and aspirations. The writing is clear on the wall.
The writer is an International Development Consultant and Winner of International award for Significant Contribution to World Society.
reevconsult@infocom.co.ug