Corruption in procurement works worsening the quality of life of rural folk

By Kibazo Abdu Masanda

Corruption is dishonest, immoral behavior in public offices resulting from greed, selfishness and pursuit of personal interests.

It includes bribery, embezzlement, nepotism, blackmail, kickbacks, to mention but a few. Matters are not helped by the high public passiveness in fighting the vice as many citizens have come to regard corruption as a normal way of life.

Public Procurement the process of purchasing equipment, services and goods by the Government has been the easiest and quickest way to obtain money corruptly from the public sector.

The process of acquiring a tender nationally or at local level is quite lengthy and it is from this process that the corrupt obtain opportunities to engage in corrupt practices.

Right from the tendering stage through to contract execution, the entire process is usually rife with procurement irregularities and malpractices, often leading to shoddy and substandard work, delayed and even non execution of awarded contracts.

Across the country, including in Bugiri District, cases abound where infrastructural works have stalled or shoddily done, due to incompetent contractors, many of whom are contracted through influence peddling by public officials, while other officials demand for kickbacks from contractors before contracts are awarded.

In other instances, poor supervision and monitoring by concerned officials are also to blame. All these have adverse negative effects on citizens who are the beneficiaries of these projects, especially poor and vulnerable citizens.

In Bugiri District as an example, the Community Agricultural Infrastructural Improvement Programme (CAIIP) phase one in Nabukalu Sub County saw two roads, that is Kasita, Isegero – Lwanika road and Kasita, Buzika – Bugobi road constructed at a cost of approximately sh734m.

The two roads were expected to cover a distance of 15kms, however, during construction a portion of about 2kms from Lwanika trading centre to Igogero swamp were left unconstructed without any reason or explanation.                                                                   

Ignorance among citizens is still a big challenge in the fight against corruption. This is even worse among the rural folk. Up to now, people held by Police as suspects allegedly still pay money to be granted a Police bond!

Yet Police officers know that a Police bond is completely free of charge in addition to it being a human rights obligation.

Many people have lost their lives due to the vice of corruption. If someone is believed to be having evidence to implicate senior officials involved in corruption, they live in fear of being eliminated from the public to enable the corrupt to move freely without being found out.

Much has been said in the guise of fighting corruption, with several institutions and laws always quoted as being in place to fight corruption.

These include the zero tolerance to corruption policy, national anti-corruption strategy, institutions such as the Inspectorate of Government, Auditor General’s Office, the Anti-corruption Court, Directorate of Ethics and Integrity.

Corruption does not seem to be reducing, as evidenced from the corruption scandals that continue to make newspaper headlines, including the recent Mukono - Katosi road, where procurement fraud is clearly evident.

Much more must be done to decisively eliminate corruption in Uganda, including implementation of the already existing laws, strengthening the institutions mandated to fight corruption, conducting massive civic education on citizens’ rights and obligations and their mandate to fight corruption, so as to reduce poverty and promote development, without which we shall be heeding for doom as a country.

The writer is a Community Based Monitor with Community Participation for Improved Service Delivery (COPISED) in Nabukalu, Bugiri District.