Fellow Ugandans,
In aggressively combating corruption within governmental agencies, I would like to suggest to the administration and the current IGG to appoint a special prosecutor, the likes of Faith Mwondha, to carry out televised trials which could highlight the damage to society, caused by the common practice of cooking books in highly sensitive ministry positions. I’m highly doubtful that the perpetrators of these graft crimes are fully aware of the impact and crisis of scarcity that their actions bring on in our poor communities.
Since we are the only country bent on employing all the folks of the EA community, in accounting, procurement, military, police, farming, health and other sensitive positions charged with direct or indirect oversight of life or death issues of our citizens. We need a better vetting process to find out whether a hired employee is not there to malice a region or the entire country through their impropriety, as key providers in a public office.
It behooves our legislatures those native Ugandans in charge of all hiring and firing to have all employees go through patriotism classes and the signing of some oath that lists consequences if folks are ever charged with dereliction of duty.
What would really work as a great public agency self audit is the adoption of a “Graft mitigating plan for each agency” which would include the kick in, at any whiff of suspicion of corruption within an agency. One of my favorite items would read like this: All critical employees charged or not charged with impropriety, have to enroll in patriotism training and a series of classes on ethics deemed as mandatory training for the entire agency to fulfill their “fitness to serve”, quota.
If folks in that public offices are trained and in-serviced as part of public and corporate governance, we could see a reduction in dubious transactions, it would definitely help bring on a heightened awareness of the progressive discipline process.
On the technology front, I would like to see a uniformity of accounting services to make auditing easy for upper management and any oversight committee.
There is no reason why an item that repeatedly tips all the cost scales on the ledger, such as the “CHOGM ROADS” should not have a trigger, that requires the sign off by the IGG-until the country gets out of this corruption crisis. Many companies in America require the signature of upper management including the CEO, to release big project amounts. I would hope that our legislatures would set the limit amounts and required signatories including the IGG’s office for good accountability.
Moving to an ERP system such as PeopleSoft, can help run the accounting for the entire nation as is done in many corporations. These ought to be court mandated implementations to halt graft and to permanently alter the prevailing conditions in our service sector where lack of accountability has resulted in loss of lives.
I cannot emphasize enough the need to sensitize public employees and to show them first hand the impact of impropriety and abuse of public office has on the poor people of Uganda.
If these symptoms of graft are left untreated, I’m afraid the danger of resentment tribally will continue to build up as under currents within the non-ruling tribes.
Tendo kaluma
Uganda living in Boston
