DPP seeks Parliament intervention over sh50b funding shortfall

PIC: The Director of Public Prosecutions Mike Chibita(R) and the deputy DPP in charge of prosecutions and quality assurance Amos Ngolobe(L) before the Parliament legal and parliamentary affairs committee. Photo/Maria Wamala

The Director of Public Prosecutions Mike Chibita has pleaded with Parliament to ensure a funding shortfall of sh50b is urgently availed to enable the agency carry out its constitutional mandate of prosecuting criminal cases.

Interfacing with the Parliament legal and parliamentary affairs committee on Wednesday together with top officials in the DPP office, Chibita pointed out underfunding as one of the major challenges they are facing.

"There is poor remuneration for our staff. Our average staff earns sh1m prosecuting public officers who have stolen billions of money. This is one of the reasons staff turnover (resignation) is high. We recently recruited 95 state attorneys but nine have already left," Chibita explained.

Making a comparative analysis about the unfairness in the salaries within government institutions, the deputy DPP in charge of prosecutions and quality assurance Amos Ngolobe said whereas the IGG earns sh17m per month and the Registrar General of Uganda Registration Service Bureau earns sh38.4m, the DPP earns only sh9m.

Ngolobe explained that out of the appropriate sh81b annual  budget the agency had requested for to carry out its duties, it was allocated only sh31.4b.

One of the most underfunded activities for the DPP, according to Ngolobe, is the prosecution of serious criminal offences that include cases of corruption in public offices, drug and human trafficking, cybercrimes, war crimes, terrorism, money laundering, environment crimes, and crimes against humanity among others.

Explaining the request for security, Ngolobe said ever their colleague Joan Kagezi was gunned down; they have continued to live under fear.

"We are the actually very vulnerable. Judges are protected but we are not protected. We need body guards and home guards. We now fear going to some places where people enjoy life yet we also want to enjoy life," Ngolobe said.

Talking about being understaffed, he said the average caseload for each attorney is 323 cases which is too much work for one individual to handle.  

Chibita told the legislators that one other major challenge they face in executing their duties is tendency of their staff getting bribed to frustrate cases.

Due to underfunding, corruption, and other factors, government has over the years lost so many cases which have resulted into court awards amount to over sh500b.

Bufumbira South MP Sam Bitangaro advised the DPP to build capacity to handle cybercrimes which he said are on the rise due to technological advancement.

Mwenge South MP Aston Kajara said, "Cybercrime is seriously on the rise. There have been attacks on our banks and accounts of state agencies. You need to build better capacity to handle those cases. There are also cases of state attorneys engaging in corruption tendencies."

Talking about the DPP taking over the IGP Kale Kaihura's case of violating the rights of people who were beaten with sticks, the opposition shadow attorney Wilfred Niwagaba said, "The public is keenly following you on taking over that case. On August 29, your organization will be on a test on whether it is really independent. We are aware that in the past many cases taken over by the DPP were instead frustrated."

The DPP avoided commenting about Kaihura's case arguing it is already before court but explained that over 99% of the criminal cases they take over from private prosecutors are discontinued for lack of evidence.